Archaeologists have uncovered a 90 year-old movie set buried in Guadalupe, California. Highlight of the set is a plaster sphinx used in the 1923 blockbuster silent film, "The Ten Commandments."

This plaster sphinx stands 15 feet tall and was shown in the Pharaoh's city in the Cecil B. DeMille movie. 

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The props for the 1923 silent film were probably some of the most sophisticated and elaborate sets ever made, according to Doug Jenzen, executive director of the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center.

Special effects movie technology obviously didn't exist during that time, so to simulate scale and size, set designers literally built gargantuan set pieces such as the sphinxes.

The largest sphinx from the set measures 12 stories high and 720 feet across. The film crew and producers went to great lengths to carry out productions where everything was absolutely life-like.

The sphinxes and other parts of the set were originally made in Los Angeles and later transported to Guadalupe some 165 miles away.

Archeaologists found the plaster sphinx severely eroded from weathering since it was buried deep beneath the sand dunes. They're now in a race to exhume these Hollywood relics that are in a very delicate, unstable state after the excavation. 

Since the plaster sphinxes have a hollow interior, they eventually collapsed and eroded. According to archaeologist M. Colleen Hamilton from Applied EarthWorks, it's pivotal to salvage the sphinx as soon as possible.

The site is slowly being destroyed by erosion and action should be carried out to retain the materials before they completely disappear.

Some say that after filming, the film crew dynamited the props. Afterwards, they buried everything in a trench.

Jenzen, however, said little evidence was found the props were dynamited. One fact that is known is the set and the sphinxes were destroyed by years of erosion from wind and rain.

This isn't the first time archaeologists found relics from The Ten Commandments set in Guadalupe. The first excavation in the 90s uncovered some smaller artifacts such as tobacco bins and cough syrup bottles.

Film crews used cough syrup as alcohol or drug substitutes since the sale of alcohol was banned from 1920 to 1933.

A new version of the movie was made in 1956 in full color and sound starring Charlton Heston as Moses. 

TagsArchaeologists Unearth 90 Year Old Hollywood Movie Set in California Desert, california, US, guadalupe california, ten commandments movie, 90 year old movie set california archaelogists