The Great Sphinx of Giza | Guardian of the Necropolis and an Icon of Ancient Egypt

The Great Sphinx of Giza was carved from the bedrock of the Giza Plateau during the reign of Khafre around 2500 BC. It was likely built after Khafre’s Pyramid and his Valley Temple.
Like many other ancient Egyptian monuments, the sphinx was once decked out in bright yellow and blue paint, but this has since disappeared.
Since the purpose of the Sphinx has been long-forgotten, many intriguing legends and superstitions have sprung up about its creation.

Sometime after the end of the Old Kingdom, the Giza Necropolis was abandoned. However, around 1400 BC, the New Kingdom Pharaoh Thutmose IV excavated the front paws of the Sphinx and erected a shrine with a Dream Stele (an inscribed granite slab) proclaiming his kingship.
Later, further excavations were undertaken by Pharaoh Amenhotep II, who also built a temple to the sun god Hor-em-akhet in the 1300s BC, and Ramesses II the Great.

In Graeco-Roman times, Giza was a popular tourist attraction, and the Pyramids and the Sphinx were considered antiquities.
The Great Sphinx in particular was visited by a number of Roman Emperors. And, in the first century AD, the Sphinx was once again cleared of sand, and a monumental stairway was erected leading up to the paws. Around 166 AD, there was further restoration of the walls surrounding the Sphinx.
But, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the Sphinx was again left to be engulfed by the sands.

While the cult of the Sphinx persisted into the Middle Ages, Arab writers saw it as Belhib, a version of the Canaanite god Hauron. They also believed that it was a talisman that guarded Giza and Cairo against the desert.
However, it was also during this time that the nose of the Sphinx was broken off. It is believed that it was intentionally broken with chisels between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD.
Arab historian al-Maqrīz believed that this was an act of retribution by Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr, against local peasants praying to the Sphinx.

The first modern archaeological excavation took place in 1817, supervised by Giovanni Caviglia, during which the Sphinx’s chest was uncovered. A further dig in 1887 by Eugène Grébaut, uncovered the paws, the altar, and the stele of Thutmosis IV.
In 1931, a number of restorations were made, some questionable. The damaged head of the Sphinx was repaired using concrete, which created an altered profile. The Roman stairway near the paws was also dismantled.

Today, the Great Sphinx still retains some of its scars. But, its body has been shored up with layers of new limestone blocks.
Recently, a series of repairs and restorations were undertaken in 1988 and the 1990s.
While it continues to stand tall, it is also under threat from pollution and rising groundwater and needs constant repairs. Nevertheless, it is a wonder to behold and is a symbol of the might and artistic wonder of the ancient Egyptians.