The Sphinx

ByShounak

INTRO WHAT IS IT Where Is It What Is It Made Of How is it Made

CONTENTS

INTRO

To the south of Khafre’ s Pyramid , at Giza near Cairo , sits a huge creature . It was the first royal sculpture in

Egypt. The sculpture was named the Sphinx .

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What Is It ?The Sphinx is a national symbol of Egypt , both ancient and modern. The word ‘ Sphinx’ means ‘ strangler’ . The name was first given by the Greeks to a fabulous creature with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. In Egypt there are numerous sphinxes, usually with the head of a king wearing his headdress and the body of a lion. Although, there are some sphinxes with ram heads and they are associated with the god Amun.

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Where Is It ?The Great Sphinx lies towards the northeast of Khafre’s Valley. It used to be a quarry, where it sits nowadays. People believe, that Khafre’s workers shaped the stone into a lion and gave it their kings face. This happened 4,500 years ago. Khafre’s name was written on the Dream Stele, which sits between the paws of the great beast. However, no one is completely it is the face of Khafre ! The sphinx faces the rising sun to the front. It resembles the sun temples which were later built by the kings of 5tht Dynasty. The lion was a solar symbol in more than one ancient Near-Eastern culture. It is the most gorgeous stone sculpture ever made by man!

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What Is It Made Of? The Sphinx is made of limestone bedrock. Geologists call it the Muqqatam Formation. The limestone that lay around the Sphinx was probably all quarried for blocks to build the pyramids. The bedrock body of the Sphinx became a standing section for deeper limestone layers of the Giza Plateau. The lowest part of the Sphinx was hard, brittle rock of the ancient reef, referred to as Member 1.

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How Is It Made ?

The head and face of the Sphinx reflect a style to Egypt’s Old Kingdom and to the 4th dynasty. The form of his face is

broad, almost square, with a broad chin .