The Sphinx

The Sphinx

 The Sphinx – one of the most recognisable symbols of Ancient Egypt – is located in a depression believed to have once been a quarry just south of the Khafre’s pyramid in the Giza complex near Cairo.  Carved from limestone bedrock believed to be over 50 million years old, the Great Sphinx has the head of a human wearing the traditional headgear of a Pharaoh and the body of a lion.  Even today the Sphinx is a national symbol of Egypt and it has been stirring the imagination of people all over the world for centuries on end.

The word ‘sphinx’ is actually a Greek word that mean ‘strangler’ and referred to a creature in Greek mythology with the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird.  The face on the Sphinx was rumoured to be that of Khafre’s as the monument sits as part of the Khafre Valley Temple.  The Pharaoh’s name is mentioned in the Dream Stele that the Sphinx holds between its huge paws, but recently scholars have been arguing over whether or not Khafre was the architect of the Sphinx.  Some believe that Pharaoh Khufu had the Great Sphinx built at the same time as his pyramid.

The Sphinx has been buried by sand for most of its ‘life’, first being uncovered by King Thutmose IV who reigned between 1425 to 1417 BC and then by Napoleon in 1798.  The sand of the desert has actually helped preserve the Sphinx due to the soft nature of the limestone it was built from, but since being completely excavated today, environmental elements such as wind, humidity, and smog from nearby Cairo have affected the Sphinx and it is now starting to crumble.  Today, visitors can still go to the Great Sphinx and stand between its massive paws, but they will see the extensive effort that is being made to preserve this Egyptian wonder.