The Great Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a huge statue that has the body of a lion and the head of a human, and is situated near the banks of the Nile, facing east, away from the pyramid of Khafre (near modern-day Cairo), in Egypt. It is the largest statue in the world that is created from a single piece of stone, with dimensions of 240 feet long (72.55m), 20 feet wide (6m), and 65 feet high (20.22m). It was believed to have been built around the third millennium BC, which is quite a long time ago. Many believe that it was created at the will of King Khafre, who ordered his own image carved on the Sphinx´s head, however no one is completely certain that it is in fact the face of Khafre. The nose on the Sphinx´s face is missing, but no one really knows why because there are many different legends.

The statue was buried most of its life in the sand, in fact, if it had not been buried during most of the time, being built of soft-sand, it would probably have disappeared long ago. Over the years, people attempted to clear away the sand from the Sphinx but gave up, but only between 1925 and 1936, the great statue was once again exposed, since antiquity. On the other hand, the statue is falling apart today because of the climate conditions in Cairo. Therefore, today, much of the work on the Great Sphinx is not aimed at more explorations or excavations, but rather the conservation of this great wonder of Egypt.