May 3, 20208 min read

The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza is the largest, oldest and probably the most famous monumental statue in the world. It is a massive seventy-three meters long and twenty meters high. It is thought to be an iconic symbol of the whole of Egypt.

This Great Sphinx of Giza definitely is one the highlight of many things to do in Cairo. It islocated in the front of Giza Pyramidsmore than 4,500-years ago approximately. The Sphinx is considered as limestone statue situated near the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt. Measuring 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high which makes it huge enough to be seen from miles away, It is also one of the most recognizable relics of the ancient Egyptians, although origins and history of this colossal structure are still being debated.

If there is no contemporary evidence that indicates with certainty who it represents, the Dream Stele, erected by Pharaoh Thutmose IV in the New Kingdom, associates the Sphinx with King Chephren. The sphinx is a mythological creature introduced by ancient Egyptian culture that has taken on different meanings throughout human history. Different cultures have adopted the concept of the sphinx to enrich their mythology, provide symbolic roles within their temples, and also describe aspects of an individual’s personality.

This Great Sphinxhas to be visited during most of Egypt Tours and Egypt Travel Packagesespecially Cairo Day Toursand Cairo Day Tours from the Airportas it is the oldest monumental figure in Egypt known and it is usually considered to have been created by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom while the reign of the Pharaoh Khafre (2558–2532 BC) of the fourth dynasty owner of the middle great pyramid in Giza Plateau.

In ancient Egypt, the sphinx – (a creature with the body of an animal and the head of a human) was a spiritual guardian depicted as a male with a pharaoh headdress—as is the Great Sphinx—and figures of the creatures were included in tomb and temple complexes such as the valley of the sphinxes connecting Karnak and Luxor Temple.

The female pharaoh Hatshepsut also has Sphinxes, such as the granite sphinx statue at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York also the large alabaster sphinx located at the Ramessid temple in Memphis, Egypt.

The one-meter-wide nose on the face is missing. Review of the Sphinx’s face reveals that long rods or tools were hammered into the nose, one down from the bridge and one beneath the nostril, then used to pry the nose off towards the south. Mark Lehner who performed an archaeological study concluded that it was broken with instruments at an unknown time between the 3rd and 10th centuries.

The word sphinx begins from (Greek mythology) around 2,000 years after the statue was installed, which makes it a riddle what Egyptians called the (Great Sphinx ) through its prime.

A pink granite slab between the Great Sphinx’s paws tells a story about Prince Thutmose son of Amenhotep II when he fell asleep near the Sphinx and had a dream that the Sphinx would make him become a Pharaoh if he helps him clear away the sand off it.

An adventurer named Captain Giovanni Battista Caviglia attempted in the early 1800s to dig out the statue with a team of 160 men as the Sphinx was actually buried in sand up to its shoulders. It wasn’t till the late 1930s that (Egyptian Archaeologists Selim Hassan ) was able to finally free the creature from its sandy tomb.

The Sphinx was said to be the focus of solar worship in the Early Dynastic Period, before the Giza Plateau became a necropolis in the Old Kingdom, like the Sphinx, the Causeway also the Chephren’s mortuary temple and the Sphinx template all are a part of a complex which predates Dynasty IV.

During a range of Egypt Day Toursyou will get the chance to see this gigantic sculpture with the body of a lion crouching in the desert for 45 centuries watching many nations and a diversity of cultures from the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks and Romans, and from the French and the British to the world war soldiers who were finally camping below his chin and they were able to find his body buried under the Giza desert sand, Take your picture kissing the Sphinx or try to put your sun-glasses on his face with Cairo Top Tours guides during many of our Cairo trips and Egypt excursions:

The Great Sphinx of Giza

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