User:Sphinx8
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[edit] THE SPHINX
The name 'sphinx' was first given by the Greeks to a creature with the head of a woman, body of a lion, and wings of a bird. The Egyptian sphinx, in the form of a sun god, is usually the head of a king and the body of a lion.
[edit] Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is located near the Great Pyramid of Giza, near Cairo, Egypt. It was built approximately 4500 years ago by workers of Khafra, who carved the Sphinx out of soft sandstone. The Sphinx, which has the body of a lion and the head of a king (possibly Khafra), is supposedly guarding Khafra's tomb in the Great Pyramid of Giza. It faces the rising sun and has a sun temple to the front. In between its front paws, a stela is placed. It describes when King Thutmose had gone hunting and fell asleep when the Sphinx told Thutmose to clear the sand around it. Thutmose did, and he later became king.
The Sphinx is 200 feet in length and 65 feet high. The face of it is 13 feet across and its eyes are 6 feet high. It has been buried by the sand and uncovered many times. Today, many parts of it are now crumpling or are already missing because of wind, humidity, and smog. People have attempted to restore it, but these attempts have proven to cause more harm to it. In the 1980s, a carefully planned restoration was happening. 2,000 limestone blocks were added and chemicals were injected, but the chemicals just wore off along with the original rock. In 1988 the left shoulder of the Sphinx crumbled. Today, the Supreme Council of Antiquities is in charge of restoring it. They are working on draining subsoil seepage which is damaging it. In addition, they are repairing the left shoulder with smaller blocks. It is amazing that the Sphinx is still standing after thousands of years.
[edit] References
http://interoz.com/egypt/sphinx.htm
http://touregypt.net/featurestories/Sphinx1.htm
