Great Sphinx, Egypt

The Great Sphinx of Egypt is the first colossal royal sculpture in Egypt. It is the national symbol of Egypt history as well as of culture. This monumental statue at Giza lies northeast of Chephren's Valley Temple. The Great sphinx of Giza is a large statue in the form of half -human and half -lion.

Great Sphinx at Giza is among one of the largest single-stone monuments present on this earth. Commonly believed to construct in 3rd millennium BC, this Great Sphinx of Egypt is 57 meter long and 6meter wide and has a height of 20 meter. The face of the sphinx is in the east direction with a temple to the front that probably belongs to the sun god.

Sphinx is the word given by the Greeks to a fabulous creature that has head of women, body of lion and wings of bird. There are numerous sphinxes in Egypt but the Great Sphinx is among the most popular one not only in Egypt but also throughout the world.

The Great Sphinx is made of soft limestone bedrock. Basically the Sphinx is not a single monument but like other Egyptian monuments it is a complex that includes the great statute, an old temple, a New kingdom Temple and some other small structures.

The lion part of the Great Sphinx statute is the symbol of solar and the royal human head is the symbol of the power. The head and the face of the statue are the example of the architectural style of the Old Kingdom particularly of 4th dynasty.

However the statue is in crumbling situation today because of the wind, humidity and the smog from the Cairo. The figure was buried in sand for most of its life, which resulted in the loss of nose, part of the uraeus (sacred cobra) and the ritual beard from the statue. The beard from the Great sphinx is on display in the British Museum.