The Great Sphinx

A History of the Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx stands on the Giza Plateau, a stone's throw away from the Great Pyramids of Egypt. The statue faces directly east, some speculate as a guardian of the temple and pyramids that surround it.

When the ancients first came into the contact with this statue, a massive creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man they called it a Sphinx. In Greek mythology a sphinx is a winged creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman. Gender differences withstanding the name Sphinx has been applied to the lion-man statue at Giza and to all similar statues found in Egypt.

What name the Egyptians originally gave the Sphinx is unknown. The earliest Egyptian writings mentioning the Sphinx come from almost a millennium after its original building and refer to it by several names: Hor-em-akht (Horus in the Horizon), Bw-How (Place of Horus) and Ra-horakhty (Ra of Two Horizons).

No other sphinx statue found in Egypt is either as old or as large as the Great Sphinx of Giza. It stands 65 feet tall, 20 feet wide and an astounding 260 feet long. Estimates of its weight (not precisely known) range upwards of 200 tons, making it one of the largest single stone sculptures in the world.

Origins of the Great Sphinx of Giza

Who Built the Great Sphinx?

Most dates for the Great Sphinx of Giza place the time of its building during the 4th Dynasty of Egypt in the 3rd millennium BCE. It is believed by most that the sphinx was built by the pharaoh Khafre, and that the face seen on the Sphinx is carved in his image.

Some have argued that the Sphinx was actually built by Khafre's father Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, largest pyramid of the world. More recently there has been speculation and some evidence that the statue was actually built by Khafre's nephew, a lesser known pharaoh by the name of Djedefre. As of yet there has been no conclusive evidence found to prove once and for all who built the Great Sphinx or whose image is recorded in the face.

How was the Great Sphinx Built?

Although we refer to the building of the Great Sphinx the word "build" is somewhat of a misnomer. The Great Sphinx was not actually built but carved straight into the limestone bedrock on which it stands. Limestone was removed from the area block by block until only a single very large block was left, from which the Great Sphinx was carved.

The surrounding blocks of limestone were used in various construction projects around the Giza plateau. The limestone surrounding the head was stronger and more solid and most likely went into building the pyramids. The lower, softer limestone surrounding the body of the Sphinx most likely was used in building the two temples that lay directly in front of the Sphinx.

History of the Great Sphinx of Giza

For all its glory the history of the Great Sphinx has been that of a forgotten and neglected monument. From the time of its original carving it has spent most of its life buried to the neck by sand.

The first restoration of the Sphinx came about 1400 BCE. The pharaoh Thutmose IV, sleeping beneath the head of the statue, was told in a dream to dig up the body of the Sphinx. In reward he was told he would be made a great king. Thutmose immediately began digging up the Great Sphinx, restoring it to its former glory. He also left evidence of this activity in what is called the Dream Stele, locating between the Sphinx's paws.

Despite Thutmose's restoration the Sphinx was once again neglected and buried by sand. Although travelers from across the world saw the face of the Sphinx, it was not until the turn of the 20th century that the statue would once again be uncovered and restored, a process that took decades to complete.

The Sphinx's Missing Nose

One of the most notorious features of the Great Sphinx is its missing nose. Many interesting theories have been brought forward to explain its disappearance. One tale has it that the nose was blown off by a cannon fired by one of Napoleon's soldiers during his Egyptian expedition.

Another popular tale is that the nose was accidentally blown off during target practice by Turkish Janissaries sometime during the Turks rule over Egypt. Neither of these stories appears to be true, however, as evidence has shown that the nose was missing long before either of these time periods.

An Egyptian historian by the name of al-Maqrizi, writing in about the 15th century, says that the nose was destroyed by a Sufi fanatic by the name of Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr. Enraged by the lifelike representation of a human face, something that is expressly forbidden by Islam, Sa'im al-Dahr ordered the nose removed.

Some evidence suggests that this may very well be the case, as it appears that two bars were inserted into the nose and used as levers to pull it off, most likely sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries. Al-Maqrizi dates the removal of the nose as 1378 CE.

Legacy of the Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza stands as one of the lasting symbols of Egypt from ancient times to the present day. It is almost synonymous with Egypt, along with the pyramids, and is one of its most recognizable symbols.

Although buried for millennia, it today is restored and preserved by Egypt, and is one of that country's most popular tourist attractions. Despite its somewhat mysterious origins, it is a larger-than-life monument to the greatness of Egypt.