The Great Sphinx of Giza: An ancient sculpture shrouded in mystery
When someone asks you what Egypt is famous for, undoubtedly your answer would be its great pyramids. But there is another site that takes a top spot in the travellers’ itenerary in this desert country. And that is the Great Sphinx of Giza. One of the best-known examples of sphinx art and among the world’s largest sculptures, the Great Sphinx of Giza is a colossal limestone statue of a recumbent sphinx , located in Giza. But the site is also shrouded in mysteries about why, when and how it was made. Let us the debates and mysteries surrounding this sculpture.
The making of the Great Sphinx of Giza
Facing directly from west to east, the Great Sphinx of Giza stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the world’s largest sculptures, the sphinx is some 240 feet long and 66 feet high. It features a lion’s body and a human head adorned with a royal head dress. The statue was carved from a single piece of limestone, and the pigment residue suggests that the entire Great Sphinx was painted. It is believed that it was made using stone hammers and copper chisels.
The story behind its origin and nomenclature
You must be wondering why the Egyptians built sphinx statues? It seems they were built to guard important places such as tombs and temples. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Great Sphinx of Giza was created around 4500 years ago during the reign of King Khafre (2575–2465 BC). It is widely believed that the sphinx depicts Khafre’s face and it was built to guard the pyramid of Khafre at Giza. However, some also believe that it was built by Khafre’s older brother Redjedef to commemorate their father, Khufu, whose pyramid at Giza is known as the Great Pyramid. But why is that? Because according to them, the face of the Great Sphinx bears more resemblance to Khufu than Khafre, and that observation also led to speculation that Khufu himself built the statue.
Though no one knows its original name, the commonly used name "Sphinx" was attributed to it about 2,000 years after its construction. The name sphinx takes reference from a Greek mythological beast with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. But this statue, like most Egyptian sphinxes, has a man's head and no wings. Later, the sphinx also came to represent Ra-Horakhty, a form of the powerful sun god.
The mystery behind its nose
The Great Sphinx of Giza has greatly deteriorated over the years, and since ancient times — possibly beginning in the reign of Thutmose IV (1400–1390 BC) — various efforts have been undertaken to preserve the statue. Whereas the body has suffered the most erosion, the face has also been damaged, and its nose is notably missing. According to some, a cannonball fired by Napoleon’s soldiers hit the nose and caused it to break off. However, illustrations that date from 1737 well before the era of Napoleon reveal a nose-less sphinx and clearly contradict the above theory.
Another theory contends that Muhammad Saʾim al-Dahr, a Sufi Muslim, mutilated the statue to protest against idolatry. In 1378 BC, Egyptian peasants would treat the sphinx as God giving offerings to him in the hope that he would control the flood cycle, which would result in a successful harvest. But Sa'im al-Dahr was outraged by this blatant show of devotion leading him to destroy the nose. However, how much truth is there in these stories is still debatable.