The Great Sphinx in Profile
The Great Sphinx in profile
W. Moore
24 x 18 Print
$56.99
Buy this poster
From this view, you can see that the sphinx's face has
deteriorated over the years. The nose and the ritual
beard of the Great Sphinx are now missing. The beard
from the sphinx is displayed in the British Museum. The
statue is crumbling today because of the wind, humidity
and the smog from Cairo. Attempts to restore it have
often caused more harm than good.
The Great Sphinx is a
statue with the body of a male lion with the head of a
human, and is located in Egypt on the Giza plateau,
situated about six miles west of Cairo. It was excavated
and carved from a relatively soft, natural limestone.
Though many theories exist, no one can be certain who
the figure was intended to personify. Some scholars
believe it was sculpted about 4,600 years ago by the
pharaoh Khafre, whose Pyramid rises directly behind it,
and that it may be his face that is represented on the
Sphinx.
The Sphinx faces due east a short distance from three
large pyramids. The body of the Great Sphinx is over 200
feet long and 66 feet high. The face of the sphinx is 13
feet wide and its eyes are 6 feet high.
|
