The Sphinx and myths about it
Table of contents
What Is the Sphinx of Giza
It is a statue in the form of a mythical creature, with the body of a lion and the head of a human adorned with a royal headdress. The statue is made of limestone.
Other names given to it
- The Egyptian archaeologist “Zahi Hawass” stated that the word “Abu Al Houl” is a distortion from “Bu Haul”, which is a Pharaonic term meaning the home of Horus, which is the symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt, and with the Arab conquest of Egypt, the word was modified by adding the letter ( a) to “bu” and converting the letters (Ha) into (Ho).
- Among the other names given to the Sphinx is the name (rooty), which for the ancient Egyptians is a sacred symbol that takes the form of a lion and its function is protection and guarding, and that dates back to the ancient state, approximately 4,500 years ago.
- While in the era of the New Kingdom, it was called (Hor-em-akhet), which meant Horus, which they used to call the falcon.
Where is the Sphinx located
It is located on the Giza plateau, next to Giza Pyramids, on the western bank of the Nile, as it is considered a guardian of the plateau.
Engineering information about the Sphinx
The Sphinx is considered one of the oldest huge sculptures found throughout history. It is 73.5 meters long, of which 15 meters is the length of its front feet, 19.3 meters wide, and 20 meters high from the base to the top of the head.
Who built it
- Who built the Sphinx is still uncertain until now, so some say that it was King (Khafra) who built it, and that it represents human wisdom and the strength of the lion, which are two characteristics that distinguished King Khafra.
- Others say that King Khufu built it.
How it was built
It was completely carved out of limestone, in the form of a lion’s body and a human head, an expression of wisdom and strength, as if it were standing near the three pyramids in order to protect them, facing the sunrise.
Broken nose of the Sphinx
As there were many sayings about the truth about who built the statue, there were also many stories about the broken nose of the Sphinx.
- Some rumors say that the nose was destroyed by the artillery of the soldiers of the French expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798, but the drawings of the Sphinx made by Frederic Louis Norden in 1737 and published 1755, before the date of the campaign by about 61 years, showed the statue without a nose, so this rumor was denied.
- In another narration, the Egyptian historian “Al-Maqrizi” claimed that the person who broke the nose of the statue was a strict Sufi named “Muhammad Saim Al-Dahr”, who tried to demolish the statue with a sharp object in an attempt to prove that it was an unholy thing, so the residents punished him by beating him to death.
- Other sayings say that the nose was the weakest part of the Sphinx, and the reason for its fall was erosion.
Myths about the Sphinx
- The most famous Myths About the Sphinx of Giza is one of his broken noses, about which there are many rumours, as we mentioned earlier.
- Another myth says that there is a “secret room” inside the feet of the Sphinx at a depth ranging from 9 to 12 meters under the left arm, where the Egyptian authorities intervened at that time and ordered to stop Robert Shock and Anthony West from searching for fear of the presence of documents related to the Egyptian civilization, but Dr. Zahi Hawass proved these rumors wrong, when he entered the excavation areas and catacombs inside the statue, there were no rooms, and this rumor was denied.
- Another one says that a third of the Sphinx’s beard was found, given by the Italian Egyptologist “Giovanni Caviglia” to a British museum, where it was found in the sand during excavations and explorations he carried out in 1817, and other parts were found between 1925 and 1926 that remained in Britain so far.
