The Great Sphinx of Giza is probably one of the most photogenic statues on the surface of the planet.
In addition to that, it is also the oldest and largest statue ever discovered on Earth. The mighty, imposing, yet mysterious ‘Great Sphinx‘ was carved from a monolith into the bedrock of the plateau.
The Sphinx, which is one of the oldest monuments on Earth, has faithfully kept watch over the pyramids since time immemorial.
We aren’t really sure as to what the Sphinx really is.
Some authors argue that the Sphinx was initially shaped as the Jackal-Dog Anubis, the God of the Necropolis and that it had a face carved in the likeness of Pharaoh Amenemhet II.
This leads us to the Egyptological idea that the Sphinx was carved and shaped around 2500 BC for the pharaoh Khafre, the builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza.
However, there are numerous scholars who disagree with this notion, suggesting that the mighty statue predates history as we know it and even the Pyramids, which were erected by the ancient Egyptians some 4,500 years ago.
As explained by Selim Hassan an Egyptian Egyptologist, writing in 1949 on recent excavations of the Sphinx enclosure; “there is not one single contemporary inscription which connects the Sphinx with Khafre; so, sound as it may appear, we must treat the evidence as circumstantial, until such time as a lucky turn of the spade of the excavator will reveal to the world a definite reference to the erection of the Sphinx.”
English Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge, like many other experts, agreed that the Sphinx is extremely old.
Sir Budge believed that the Sphinx predated Khafre’s reign. Writing in The Gods of the Egyptians (1914): “This marvelous object [the Great Sphinx] was in existence in the days of Khafre, or Khephren, and it is probable that it is a very great deal older than his reign and that it dates from the end of the archaic period [circa 2686 BC].
A mystery here mysteries there, nothing describes better what a true wonder the Sphinx really is than 30 striking images showing the majestic ancient monument in unprecedented detail.
(Shutterstock)
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