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<< Our Photo Pages >> Great Sphinx - Ancient Temple in Egypt in Lower Egypt (North)

Submitted by Klingon on Sunday, 24 July 2005  Page Views: 14239

Roman, Greek and ClassicalSite Name: Great Sphinx
Country: Egypt Region: Lower Egypt (North) Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Cairo
Latitude: 29.975350N  Longitude: 31.137500E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 no data

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I have visited· I would like to visit

Kuba visited on 24th Apr 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5

kantonkats visited on 14th Aug 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 can only be viewed from a distance

CP2002 visited on 12th Feb 2012 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4

Orcinus visited on 18th May 2009 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

43559959 visited on 8th Mar 2005 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5

Jansold visited on 3rd Mar 2003 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4

rldixon h_fenton myf davidmorgan MelissaBWrite have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.5 Ambience: 4.5 Access: 4.5

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by AlexHunger : Egyptologists generally claim that the Sphinx has the face of Khafre, while others claim the rock formation is much older. The Egyptian authorities are about to start a refurbishment of the neck, shoulder and breast area, hence the scaffolding. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Contrary to many urban myths, the nose was not broken by Napoleon's cannons but by a man called Makresi in the 7th Century who wanted to remove its power over the people, as the Ka entered and left the body via the nose.

It's a large half-human, half-lion statue. Part of the Great Pyramids area with Khufu's Pyramid, Khafre's Pyramid, Menkaure's Pyramid, Great Sphinx and Mastaba Cemetery.
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Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Thorgrim : Restoration work on the Sphinx. Does anyone really know its age and purpose? (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by rldixon : Sphinx scanned from a slide taken 1985 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by davidmorgan : The Sphinx. November 1981. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by AlexHunger : Egyptologists generally claim that the Sphinx has the face of Khafra, while others claim the rock formation is much older. The Egyptian authorities are about to start a refurbishment of the neck, sholder and breast area, hence the scapholding. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Orcinus : Great Sphinx, 2009

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Orcinus : The Great Sphinx, 2009

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by CP2002 : The Sphinx taken in 2011.

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Sunny100 : [Photo given to me by an Anonymous friend]. The photo shows Australian soldiers of the 8th Light Horse Regiment (on camels) taking a rest (and photo opportunity) with some of the locals in 1916. (2 comments)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by durhamnature : Old photo from "The Romance of Excavation..." a wonderful book via archive.org

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Sunny100 : Great Sphinx near Cairo, Lower Egypt. The Sphinx Harmaldis stands some 200 metres from the pyramid of King Khefra (Khephres), and is the guardian lion of the Giza necropolis. It stands at 65 feet high and over 200 feet long, and is dated to the 18th Dynasty.

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by rldixon : artwork derived from a slide taken in 1985 played with in photoshop

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by rldixon : Sphinx scanned from a slide taken 1985

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by rldixon

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by FleaMarket : 1857 Photo by Francis Frith. Taken before the Sphinx was dug out of the sand and the area restored.

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Thorgrim : Nothing can prepare you for your first encounter with the Sphinx. How old is it and what is its purpose? The body is possibly a natural rock formation shaped into a lion by sand driven wind and then helped along by the bronze chisels of the earliest Egyptians from the Archaic period (3168-2705 BC). The head is generally supposed to have been reshaped in the likeness of Khephren (Old Kingdom). Does...

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Orcinus : Great Sphinx, May 2009

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Orcinus

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by durhamnature : Painting, from "Holy Lands..." via archive.org

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by durhamnature

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by durhamnature : Old drawing, from "History of Ancient Egypt" via archive.org

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by h_fenton : The head of the Sphinx from the side

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by AlexHunger : The big cat guarding the causeway to Khafra's Pyramid. Egyptologists generally claim that the Sphinx has the face of Khafra, while others claim the rock formation is much older. The Egyptian authorities are about to start a refurbishment of the neck, sholder and breast area, hence the scapholding.

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by andyb456 : The rear of the Sphinx shows the erosion that some believe to have been caused by heavy rain when the region had a much wetter climate. (4 comments)

Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx submitted by Thorgrim : My grandfather and the Sphinx in 1912. Do you have any early ORIGINAL unpublished photos? Click here for more information.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 111m ESE 119° Giza Valley Temple* Ancient Temple
 373m S 180° Heit el-Ghurab* Ancient Village or Settlement
 623m NNW 329° Khufu's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 691m W 275° Khafre's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 743m NW 313° Seschemnofer III. Mastaba* Pyramid / Mastaba
 746m NW 322° Senegemid Mastabas* Chambered Cairn
 746m WNW 303° Giza Mastaba Cemetery* Pyramid / Mastaba
 888m NW 306° Giza Plateau* Pyramid / Mastaba
 968m WSW 251° Menkaure's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 5.4km SSE 154° Khaba's Pyramid Pyramid / Mastaba
 8.7km NW 316° Djedefre's Pyramid Pyramid / Mastaba
 9.6km SE 146° Niuserra's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 10.7km SE 144° Sahure's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 10.8km SE 143° Niuserra Sun Temple* Ancient Temple
 10.9km SE 143° Ptah Shepses Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 11.0km SE 145° Neferirkare's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
 11.0km SE 144° Neferefra Sun Temple Ancient Temple
 11.8km NE 47° El Zadalek Island Obelisk* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 12.1km NE 50° Museum of Egyptian Antiquities* Museum
 13.3km SSE 147° Serapeum at Sakkara* Ancient Temple
 13.5km SE 146° Knuhmhotep and Niankhkhnum Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.5km SSE 147° Ptah Hotep Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.7km SE 144° Mereruka Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.7km SE 144° Kagemni Mastaba* Chambered Cairn
 13.7km SE 145° Userkaf's Pyramid* Pyramid / Mastaba
View more nearby sites and additional images

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"Great Sphinx" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Great Sphinx by Anne T on Monday, 04 February 2019
(User Info | Send a Message)
The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for the Great Sphinx, Giza, Egypt, which includes photographs, descriptions and details of repairs and further exploration.
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The Sphinx and the Air-Conditioning of KHUFU’S Solar Boat by bat400 on Monday, 11 November 2013
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coldrum sends Nevine El-Aref's article from weekly.ahram.org.eg/. This is an excerpt:
On the Giza Plateau the situation is somewhat different. A tiny, twisted channel of water appeared on the sandy area in front of the Sphinx, and visitors to the area concluded that the newly operated, state-of-the-art pumping system to reduce the high rate of subterranean water that has accumulated beneath the Sphinx and the underlying bedrock had been damaged.

“This absolutely is not the case,” said Ali Al-Asfar, head of Upper Egypt monuments and the Giza Plateau. He told the Weekly that the pumping machines were safe and sound and automatically start operating when the subterranean water level exceeds 5.2 metres above sea level and stop when this level is reached.

“Such a level is a natural phenomenon,” Al-Asfar said, adding that the River Nile had once reached the plateau, and at the time a harbour was dug to shelter the boats transporting the pyramid blocks from the quarries in Aswan and Tora.

The water leaking in front of the Sphinx, he said, was caused by the incompetent drainage in the air conditioning system of King Khufu’s Solar Boat Museum on the plateau. The tunnels connecting the air conditioning system to the drains in neighbouring Nazlet Al-Semman were blocked and needed to be cleaned and repaired.

“The quantity of water that is leaking is nothing,” Al-Asfar said, adding that the MSA would replace these weak tunnels to prevent water leakage in the future. He told the Weekly that efforts were now being made to preserve the site and return it to its former serene state. To his end a private company is now cleaning the plateau, removing accumulated garbage and sprucing up its image.

The lack of security and the absence of police on the plateau, as with other archaeological sites, mean it has been subjected to encroachment. Horse and camel owners have violated the antiquities law by entering the archaeological safe zone in an attempt to find clients. The number of tourists to Egypt decreased after the revolution, leading to greater competition in the Egyptian tourism trade. Animal dung has become a serious problem and is being cleared from the site. The private company is using avant garde machines to collect the dung and is recycling other garbage. Garbage bins made of stone similar to the plateau’s bedrock have been installed in various locations on the site.
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