While we were at the pyramids, we obviously went down to see the Sphinx. We were all very excited to finally see it in real life. What we didn't realize was how huge this thing really was....but smaller than you might expect. It was amazing! Come to find out it is 241ft long, 63ft wide 66ft high. This thing would take up an entire football field leaving about 50ft in front and behind it.
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| The Sphinx and The Pyramid |
Again our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge and told us an extensive history lesson on this. The face is believed to be the of the Pharaoh Amenemhet II. It was built around the time the second pyramid was being built. There is a causeway behind that leads from the second pyramid to the Sphinx. There is also the Sphinx Temple next to where the Sphinx is. This is another large area where there once stood statues of past pharaohs. The statues have been removed since then. You can see the pictures below where they once stood. What was crazy to me is the architecture of how this temple was built. Look at the columns below, if you put lasers to the columns, they would all perfectly in plain with each other. 5000 years ago they didn't have levels or tape measures. How did they do this?!?! It's a mystery! Also the columns are also perfect flat and reflect the sun as it had been polished with alabaster which creates light. Again think about how long that must have taken to get them so perfect. The overhead supports are also the same way. But these are 6 ton granite blocks, how does someone get it up there? These columns are roughly 12 feet in the air.
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| Columns in the temple |
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| Perfectly in plain!! |
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| Up close picture of the face |
After we walked though the temple he gave us a little bit more information about the Sphinx. For example, in 1880 when it was discovered by an archeologist, most of it was buried in sand. The only part showing was just his head and part of his back. Also, Sharif told us about a rumor of what happened to his nose and the cobra that came up from the forehead like other statues of Amenemhet II. It is said that while Napoleon was there, he used the Sphinx's nose as target practice. But if you think about it, if you are using it as practice, he would have been missing other parts of his face. It wouldn't just all be centralized on his nose. There are no other imperfections. Sharif said most likely was happened was.... "Its the desert, there is sandstorms. If your nose was sandblasted for 5000 years your nose would fall off too." The fact is the weight of the nose and all the years of sandstorms, the nose and snake most likely fell off. But no one actually knows for sure and probably never will. Also the other thing that some people don't know is The Sphinx when it was completed was beautifully painted and again age and weather blew it all off. We asked him about the Orion Belt theory, if he knew why the pyramids are built in direct line up with Orion's Belt, he had no answer for that one. I also decided to do some research to find an old picture of the Sphinx, you can see it below.
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| The Sphinx in 1880 |
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| Us in front of The Sphinx |
Some fun photos of us with the Sphinx. A young boy posed us almost perfectly for each of these photos! ...and then tried to get 200le from us! Uhhh no! Please, if you are a tourist, do not give them 200le! We gave him 5le. haha. I am sure some tourists fall for the 200le trick! That's $33 for someone to take a few photos of you. Crazy talk.
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