Sphinx - Pyramid - The Great Wonders of World

SPHINX   -  PYRAMID   -     The  Great  Wonders  of  the  World

The Sphinx, the human head with a lion’s body in the land of Pyramids was one of the greatest wonders of the ancient and modern world.  The Sphinx in both Egyptian history as well as Greek mythology was larger than life size in the world horizon.  It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world.

The great Sphinx is a large human headed lion that was carved from a mold of natural rock.  The great Sphinx is located at Giza where it guards the front of Khafre’s pyramid. There are a total of 138 pyramids in Egypt today. This monumental statue, the first truly colossal royal sculpture in Egypt, known as the Great Sphinx, is a national symbol of Egypt, both ancient and modern.  It has stirred the imagination of poets, scholars, adventurers and tourists for centuries. 

The Great Sphinx is to the east of Khafre’s (Chephren) Valley Temple.  Where it sits was once a quarry.   It is believed that Khafre’s workers shaped the stone into the lion and gave it their king’s face over 4500 years ago.   King’s head dress was also visible in the Great Sphinx.

The Great Sphinx facing the rising sun with a temple to the front which resembles the sun temples which were built later by the kings of 5^th Dynasty.  The lion a solar symbol was more than an ancient Near Eastern culture.  The royal human head on a lion’s body symbolized power and might, controlled by the intelligence of the Pharaoh, guarantor of the cosmic order.  Its symbolism survived for two and a half millennia in the iconography of Egyptian civilization.   

The dimension of the Great Sphinx body is 72.55 meter in length and 20.22 meters tall.  The face of the Sphinx is four meters wide and its eyes are two meters high.  The mouth is about two meters wide, while the nose would have been more than 1.5 meters of long.  The ears are well over one meter high. The Great Sphinx is believed to be the most immense stone sculpture in the round ever made by man.

At the present age the nose of Sphinx is missing.   Most popular belief is that the nose was lost due to  Napolean Bonepart’s army target practicing with it in 1798. Drawings done for La Description de L’Egypte depict a noseless Spinx.   However, the present day Great Sphinx is largely intact.

The Great Sphinx appears in Egypt as an emblem in their stamps, coins and official documents.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the Great Sphinx symbolically represented the Nile and its seasons.  The Sphinx was also a manifestation of Hathor, the Goddess of birth and death.  The Sphinx was built of the guardian of the horizons, the rising and setting sun. It held the keys to the wisdom gates. 

There are three types of Sphinxes-

• Criosphinx (lion body with ram head) 
•   Hieroscosphinx (lion body with hawk’s head)
•    Androsphinx (lion body with human head, like the Great Sphinx)

The Sphinx of Greek Mythology has Lion’s body, human head and wings of bird.  It is a beautiful creature and was believed to have a monster’s strength.

The Great Sphinx is not only the pride of Egyptian civilization but the pinnacle of human artifact.  A mountain of labor and human artisanship has gone into the making of this man made monument. 

The Egyptian Great Sphinx and Pyramids are showcasing to the world that our predecessors had great vision, artifact and  mammoth strength to erect monuments of greatest stature.

One of the greatest wonders of the world and a symbol of pride for entire human race.