Sphinx of Giza

The Sphinx of Giza is a statue, located in the Giza Necropolis, depicting a sphinx.

It is the largest monolithic statue among the Egyptian sphinxes: 73.5 meters long, 20.22 meters high and 19.3 meters wide of which only the head is 4 meters.

From a geographical point of view, the monument is located within the Giza plateau (including the Necropolis of the same name), on the west bank of the Nile River, which separates Giza from the capital of Egypt, Cairo.

The monument was probably carved out of a rock outcrop during the construction of the Pyramids of Giza.

Oddly, the Great Sphinx is an isolated monument, while later Sphinxes were placed in pairs to protect the entrance to a building. In theory, another great Sphinx could be carved; in fact, not far to the south, on the plateau stands another small hill of rock. In practice, however, this was not the case, perhaps due to too much distance.

Hidden passages

The Great Sphinx seems to have been created around 2500 BC, at the time of the pharaoh Khafre (2520-2494 BC). of Cheops) to protect it.

One of the mysteries of the Sphinx, fueled by popular legends, is certainly the presence of hidden passages inside. Currently, the origin of only one of them is known: a short dead-end passage behind the head, dug in the 19th century by John Shae Perring and Howard Vyse while searching for a secret chamber inside the body.

The hypothesis that there are hidden chambers inside the monument has no scientific evidence, even if the latest excavations in 2007 revealed the presence of a dense network of tunnels.

The registry room is a mythical library buried under the Sphinx of Giza which some believe would contain all the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians fixed on papyrus scrolls, as well as the story of the lost continent of Atlantis.

Map: Sphinx of Giza