Great Sphinx of Giza
Egypt is where the more than 300-year-old Egyptian civilization started. A culture whose scientific achievements, moral and ethical standards, and architectural marvels like the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx continue to amaze people today. “Ancient Egypt” is the name of the culture. Along with other artifacts from Egypt’s Pharaonic period, the Sphinx has been the subject of many questions and is an important part of any trip to Egypt or Nile Cruise 2020. Ancient Egyptians built it to keep an eye on and protect the Giza Pleasure Garden. People ask a lot of questions about the Sphinx, like “What does it mean?” and “What does it stand for?” They also ask, “How did they build the Great Sphinx?” One of the best parts of any trip to Egypt is seeing the Great Sphinx and the rest of the Giza plateau, so we’ll answer some questions about these places.
What do you learn from the Sphinx?
Most people think of Ancient Egypt when they hear the word “sphinx,” but it actually means a monster with a human head and a lion’s body. Greek mythology and the myths of some countries in south and southeast Asia both have stories about these kinds of creatures. It is hard, if not impossible, to figure out what this big old building was called in the past. A big reason for this is that it isn’t written down anywhere from the time of the ancient monarchy. Ancient laws gave the Sphinx its current name more than 2,000 years after the time when it was usually thought to have been built.
Its name sounds like the name of a Greek mythological creature. A monster that has the body of a lion, the head of a woman, and the wings of an eagle. But in ancient Egyptian mythology, the monster had a male head and no wings. People thought that the Greek sphinx squeezed people who couldn’t answer his riddle, so that’s where the name “Great Sphinx” comes from. The English first called it the “Great Sphinx.” “abu al hawl,” which means “the terrible one” in Arabic, is another name that people often use.
How did they build the sphinx that big?
The sphinx is 20 meters tall from its feet to the top of its head, and its haunches are 19 meters wide. Almost certainly, the building was made during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, when Egypt was ruled by a monarchy. The Giza plateau was used as a quarry and as the site for many buildings, including the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx, which were carved right into the rock. Layers of nummulitic limestone were put on top of each other to make the Sphinx. Each layer had a different ability to hold up against the weather. This is how the body of the sphinx got its unique stepped shape. This amazing building is 73 m (or 240 ft) long, 20 m (or 66 ft) tall from the bottom to the top, and 19 m (or 62 ft) wide at its widest point.
People have had many ideas about who built this ancient wonder of the world over the years. Still, most historians agree that the Great Sphinx was built around 2500 B.C. for Pharaoh Khefre. There are a lot of signs that the Sphinx and Khefre are connected. One piece of evidence is the upside-down figure of Khefre that was found nearby. Its layout is also very similar to that of the Valley Temple, which helps prove this point.
Since the Giza Necropolis was left alone for a long time and was allowed to fall apart, the Sphinx is now buried up to its neck in sand. This kept happening until 1400 B.C., when Thutmose IV led the first known dig in the area. They worked hard to dig a hole between the two front paws and put a “Dream Stele,” a piece of granite, there. Ramses started another dig, and it wasn’t long before a second one was started. After a lot of digging, the public could see the chest, the paws, and the altar on the Giza plateau at the start of the year 1887.
In 1931, the Great Sphinx was fixed by people who worked for the Egyptian government. Erosion had broken off part of the head and done a lot of damage to the neck. The last parts of the Sphinx Structure are the Bear and the Nose. People used to think that Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops broke off the Sphinx’s nose with a cannon bolt. Arab historian Al Maqrizi said that Mohamed Salim al-Dahr broke an icon by cutting off the nose. This is the most likely reason for what happened. We heard about it from Al Maqrizi.
