If you visit the three pyramids of Giza, you will be surprised to see a colossal statue of a beast with a man’s head and a lion’s body! This is the great Sphinx that sits in the desert of Egypt, about 12 km from Cairo. The statue has mysterious eyes and enigmatic expression. It gazes over the desert with a kind of mystical superiority. It is one of the most famous monuments in the world.
The Sphinx was carved out of the hill rock left over from the building of the Great Pyramid. It is about 20 m in height and 70 m in length. According to the popular belief, it was made some 5000 years ago to resemble the face of Chephren, a king of the fourth Egyptian dynasty. It was built during the reign of the Egyptian king Khafre.
Now the question arises – why was the Sphinx built? The Sphinx was a mythical monster. The Greeks thought of it as having the head of a woman, and body of a lion with wings. The Egyptians thought of it as a wingless lion with the head and breast of a man. It was believed that the Sphinx would ward off all evils from the cemetery around the pyramids.
Apart from the great Sphinx of Giza, there are many other Sphinxes in Egypt. Their heads represent different kings. In ancient Egypt, kings were considered to be descendants of the Sun God called Ra. When a king died, he himself was supposed to become the Sun God. Kings were also believed to have the strength of various beasts. So the Egyptians sculptured their Gods and Kings in the shape of half human and half beast.
There is another Sphinx with a female face. It is made after the Queen Hatsphepsut, who had seized the throne and ruled the country. This Sphinx has a beard which represents queen Hatsphepsut’s masculine powers.