Cecil B. DeMille's Head

Recently, archeologists excavating the desert Sands in Guadalupe California made a striking discovery...a 300-pound sphinx head!!!

Here is the fun part.  The found head WASN'T an artifact from a lost tribe in Egypt...it was a SET PIECE from Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent epic The Ten Commandments that was buried there after filming.

1n 1923, filmmaker Ceclil B. Demille built the largest set in movie history for Ten Commandments with buildings as big as 12 stories high and 800 feet wide.   It took 1,500 men to build the city back in the early 1920s, using more than 25,000 pounds of nails to put it all together. According to local legend, Cecil B. DeMille had the set buried because it was too valuable and too expensive, while others claim that it was just too expensive to transport.

Now, archaeologists are working to preserve the decaying remains which were left in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes after filming wrapped

Executive Director of the Dunes Center, Doug Jenzen, explains that the latest sphinx head is unlike anything from the set of Cecil B. DeMille's Ten Commandments that has been found thus far. Apparently, the sand kept most of the original paint intact and it's giving movie buffs a better understanding about how Hollywood movies were made nearly 100 years ago. Though the movie was shot in black and white, DeMille still had the massive set pieces painted with intense colors. '

Jenzen had this to say:
"The majority of it is preserved by sand with the original paint still intact. This is significant and shows that we're still learning unexpected facets to film historical movie production such as the fact that objects in black and white films were actually painted extremely intense colors. It really speaks to the craftsmanship and level of skill the artisans could build"

Cecil B. DeMille's Ten Commandments..we ❤️you.