The Great Sphinx of Giza is a colossal limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Situated on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Egypt, this majestic monument has captivated the imagination of people for thousands of years.

Archaeologists believe that the Great Sphinx was carved from a single mass of limestone exposed when workers dug a horseshoe-shaped quarry in the Giza plateau during the reign of the fourth-dynasty pharaoh Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BC). Measuring approximately 66 feet tall and 240 feet long, it is one of the largest and oldest monolithic statues in the world.

The Sphinx’s head is believed to represent the pharaoh Khafre, wearing the traditional nemes headdress and royal cobra emblem on its forehead. The human facial features are masculine, and the statue was once colorfully decorated with traces of red, blue, and yellow pigments still visible on its surface.

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Despite centuries of weathering and vandalism, the Sphinx’s face remains well-defined, with the carved stone beard and royal cobra emblem found during early 19th-century excavations.

The Sphinx’s body, once faced with high-quality limestone blocks from the quarry at Tura, has deteriorated over time, with some areas entirely lost.

The Sphinx’s exact purpose and symbolism remain a mystery, as no contemporary inscriptions mention the statue. However, inscriptions from the era refer to Ruti, a double lion god that sat at the entrance to the underworld and guarded the horizon where the sun rose and set.

Over the centuries, the Sphinx has been subjected to at least five major restoration efforts, with the earliest known dating back to 1400 BC. Today, the Great Sphinx stands as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of ancient Egyptian stonemasons, a colossal guardian watching over the Giza necropolis and the pyramids of Khafre and Khufu.