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The Great Sphinx: History and Myths

The Great Sphinx of Giza, built during the reign of King Khafre, features a lion's body and a human head, symbolizing power and protection. It was constructed to honor the pharaoh and ward off evil spirits, while also being linked to the sun god Ra. The Sphinx has suffered erosion and damage over time, including the loss of its nose, attributed to various factors including human actions and natural weathering.

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ancheng
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as KEY, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Topics covered

  • evil spirits,
  • Sphinx construction,
  • Giza,
  • Sphinx in art,
  • Sphinx and pharaohs,
  • erosion,
  • Battle of the Pyramids,
  • Sphinx mysteries,
  • Sphinx in popular culture,
  • New Kingdom
25 views12 pages

The Great Sphinx: History and Myths

The Great Sphinx of Giza, built during the reign of King Khafre, features a lion's body and a human head, symbolizing power and protection. It was constructed to honor the pharaoh and ward off evil spirits, while also being linked to the sun god Ra. The Sphinx has suffered erosion and damage over time, including the loss of its nose, attributed to various factors including human actions and natural weathering.

Uploaded by

ancheng
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as KEY, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Topics covered

  • evil spirits,
  • Sphinx construction,
  • Giza,
  • Sphinx in art,
  • Sphinx and pharaohs,
  • erosion,
  • Battle of the Pyramids,
  • Sphinx mysteries,
  • Sphinx in popular culture,
  • New Kingdom

The Great

Sphinx
By Andrew Cheng
What is the Sphinx in Mythology?

Hesiod
Sphinx that asks the riddle
everyone knows.
What is it that has one voice and
yet becomes four-footed and two-
footed and three-footed?
Oedipus answered it correctly.
The regular
sphinx
What is the Great Sphinx of Giza?

Lions body, humans head, royal


headdress.

It was 240 ft long, 66 ft high, and


20 ft wide

Pigments near the left ear

Several years, 100 worker; using


stone hammer, copper chisels
Where was the Sphinx built?

Built in Egypt

Important figure
Who built it?

King Khafre(2575-
2465 B.C.E)

King Khafre older


brother(Redjedef)

Commemorate their
father, Khufu, rather
then Khafre
Why was it built?
The Sphinx's imposing
presence may have been
intended to ward off evil
spirits.
Sphinxes were placed at the
entrances of temples to guard
their mysteries.
Honor a pharaoh
The Sphinx may have been built
to honor the pharaoh Khafre, who
ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of
the Old Kingdom.
The Sphinx's face may have been
modeled after Khafre.

Symbol of the sun god


The Sphinx faces the sunrise,
which may link it to the sun
god Ra and the afterlife.
In the New Kingdom, the
Sphinx was revered as Hor-em-
akhet, which translates to
"Horus of the Horizon".
The Great Sphinx of Giza
created during the
The One in Egypt New Kingdom
period (1550-1070
BCE).
attach a crown or
headdress.
no direct
archaeological
evidence to support
this.
deepened over time
in search of hidden
chambers or
Cracks treasure.
In 1977, scientists
Cracks used remote-
sensing equipment
to analyze the
bedrock under the
Ear
Eyes Sphinx.

Cracks Mouth
Sphinx Long Ago
If it wasn’t weathered
Nose
Why is the nose gone?

Shot off by Napoleon Bonaparte

Plans to conquer the Nile

Battle of the Pyramids

Painters and artists drawings all


show the nose was already off
Nose
Why is the nose gone?

Muhammad Saʾim al-Dahr


Hit off the nose to show the Sphinx
wasn’t a god.
Nose
Why is the nose gone?

Wind: Wind and windblown sand erode the Sphinx.


Rain: Moisture causes salts in the rock to crystallize,
which weakens the rock.
Salt crystallization: The expanding crystals cause the
surface limestone to flake off.
Thank You
For Listening

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