Great Sphinx of EgyptPhotographed below is the Great Sphinx of Egypt on the outskirts of Cairo in 1986, before the major restoration project which has produced the modern Sphinx you will almost certainly explore during your holidays in Egypt. |
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Sphinx of Egypt information
Built around the same time as the construction of the adjoining Pyramid of Khafre (Fourth Dynasty of Egypt; Chephren; c.2555-2532 BC), the Sphinx faces due east toward the equinox, is 73.5 metres long (241 feet) and in parts is 20 metres high (65 feet). Unlike surrounding pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, the Great Sphinx of Egypt is carved from living bedrock and was originally coated with masonary. Various mysteries and secrets surround the Sphinx, including the lack of any inscripted references to Chephren, the son of King Cheops and the Egyptian pharoah who reigned at the time of construction. Also unexplained are signs of water erosion that can't be found on nearby pyramids built around the same time. These are among the many riddles of the Sphinx. Scholars generally agree this giant statue represents Chephren as Horus presenting offerings to Ra, the sun god of Egypt, in the temple courtyard of the Sphinx. Sphinx is a Greek word and was not originally used as a name for the statue. Around 1550BC, it was known as Hor-em-akht, "Horus in the Horizon", or Bw-Hol, "Place of Horus". The Great Sphinx faces east to greet the rising sun and has a temple in front of it. On March 21, the sun in Egypt sets on the shoulder of the Great Sphinx. The same thing happens on September 21 each year, scholars arguing this is proof that the Sphinx was an element of the master plan of Cephren's Pyramid and was not located haphazardly. However, there is an alternative belief that the Sphinx was created as early as the 7th Century BC with the pyramid built many years later to align with the sun.
Pieces of it were found between the Sphinx's paws by the archaeologist Caviglia in 1816, but these represented only about 15% of the original beard. Some of the beard fragments were donated to the Cairo Museum and others can now be seen in the British Museum in London. Remaining flecks of paint suggest the Great Sphinx of Egypt was originally painted bright red. The monument once also had a nose. Despite common myths that the nose was blasted off by Napolean or by British or German soldiers when they occupied Egypt during World War I, it's almost certain the nose disappeared sometime during the 14th Century.
There have been various attempts to excavate and restore the Sphinx, dating back to 1550BC and including French scholars accompanying Naploean's army to Egypt in 1798. The Sphinx was buried and protected by sand from the Middle Ages until Egypt explorers started digging it out in the 19th Century. Serious restoration attempts began in 1926 but concrete was used and this non-porous material eventually proved to be damaging as it conflicted with the limestone from which the Sphinx is built. Pollution from the nearby city of Cairo, together with heat, wind, sand and humidity, contribute to the monument's slow disintegration. Stones were lost from the north paw in 1982 and a 700 pound stone fell from the shoulder of the Sphinx in 1988, prompting the government of Egypt to finance a decade-long restoration project costing $2.5 million that was completed in 1998. This restoration used limestone similar to the original and for much of the 1990s the Sphinx was coated with scaffolding as Egyptian labourers carted massive stones into place, machinery being forbidden. The original limestone of the Great Sphinx of Egypt, some up to 50 million years old, is still deteriorating slowly on the chest and flanks of the monument. However, scholars are confident the latest restoration will see this wonder of the world continue to wear its inscrutable smile for many years to come. Felluca cruise on the Nile River
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