The Sphinx
About 350 metres from Cheops’s pyramid stands the Great Sphinx, known in Arabic as Abu el-Hol which means «father of terror». Seventy three metres long, this colossal statue represents a lion with a human head which some believe to be a likeness of Chep- hren standing guard over his tomb. Originally the Sphinx was called Hor-em-Akhet, which means «Horus who is on the horizon», from which the Greeks derived the name Harmakis. Many times during the course of the centuries the body of the Sphinx has been completely covered by the sand leaving only its enigmatic features (5 metres high) uncovered. Many times too men dug it out of the sand. The most renowned restoration was that of Tutmose IV who was ordered in a dream by Harmakis to uncover the Sphinx. The defacement of this mythical man-animal which is evident today is due in part to erosion by the wind and in part to the cannon of the Mamelukes who used it for target practice.
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| The Sphinx |
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| The Sphinx |
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| The Sphinx |
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