Thutmosis IV ruled Egypt c.1401-c.1391 BCE. He erected a stela [monument] some 12' tall between the forepaws of the Sphinx. This Dream Stela describes an event when he was still a prince: Thutmosis was hunting here, and around noon he got very hot and decided to rest in the shadow of the Great Sphinx. It was already ancient; only the head rose above the sands. He slept in the Sphinx's shadow. As the sun hit the zenith--the peak of its power--the sun god Horem-Akhet-Khepri-Re-Atum (associated with the Sphinx) came to him in a dream and told him the god would make sure that Thutmosis was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt, unified... if he cleared away the annoying sand that had buried his body.

Part of the surviving text on the stela between the Sphinx's forepaws:

When His Majesty was a stripling... he did a thing which gave him pleasure upon the highlands of the Memphite Nome, upon its southern and northern road shooting at a target with copper bolts, hunting lions and the small game of the desert, coursing in his chariot, his horses being swifter than the wind, together with two of his followers, while not a soul knew it.

Now, when his hour came for giving rest to his followers, it was always at the Setepet (Sanctuary of Hor-em-akhet)...

Now, the very great statue of Kheperi rests in this place the great in power, the splendid in strength, upon which the shadow of Ra tarries. The quarters of Memphis, and all the cities which are by him come to him, raising their hands for him in praise to his face, bearing oblations for his Ka.

One of those days it came to pass that the King's Son Thothmes came, coursing at the time of mid-day, and he rested in the shadow of this Great God. Sleep seized him at the hour when the sun was in its zenith, and he found the Majesty of this Revered God speaking with his own mouth, as a father speaks with his son, saying: 'Behold thou me, my son, Thothmes. I am thy father, Hor-em-akhet-Kheperi-Ra-Atum; I will give to thee my Kingdom upon earth at the head of the living. Thou shalt wear the White Crown and the Red Crown upon the Throne of Geb, the Hereditary Prince. The land shall be thine, in its length and in its breath, that which the eye of the All-Lord shines upon. The food of the Two Lands shall be thine, the great tribute of all countries, the duration of a long period of years. My face is directed to you, my heart is to you; Thou shalt be to me the protector of my affairs, because I am ailing in all my limbs. The sands of the Sanctuary, upon which I am, have reached me; turn to me in order to do what I desire [i.e. clear the sand off!] I know that thou art my son, my protector; behold; I am with thee, I am thy leader.'

Sources: Norman Mackenzie's Dreams and Dreaming (1965) pp. 29 & 31, Wikipedia (Dream Stela) and pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/sphinx-stela/

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