7 Jaw-Dropping Facts About the Great Sphinx of Giza That Will Surprise You

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Standing guard over the Egyptian desert for thousands of years, the Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most famous historic monuments in the world. This massive statue sits on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt, alongside the legendary pyramids. It measures 240 feet long and 66 feet tall. This makes it the largest single-stone statue on Earth.

The Sphinx combines the body of a lion with the head of a human wearing a pharaoh's headdress. Scientists believe it was built around 4,500 years ago. However, this ancient wonder continues to hide many secrets that puzzle historians today.

Here are seven surprising facts about the Great Sphinx that most people don't know.

The Sphinx comes from ancient Egyptian mythology. In Egyptian myths, a sphinx is a creature with a lion's body and a human head. The Great Sphinx has a man's head with a pharaoh's headdress. This makes it different from Greek and Asian sphinxes, which usually have a woman's head and wings. Ancient Egyptians didn't call it "the Great Sphinx." They called it different names like "Horem-Akhet," which means "Horus of the horizon."

The builder of the Great Sphinx remains a mystery. No ancient records tell us who created this monument. Most scientists believe Pharaoh Khafre built it around 2500 BCE. His face looks similar to the Sphinx's face, and his pyramid stands nearby. However, some experts think it was built by Khafre's father, Khufu, or his half-brother, Djedefre. Other researchers believe the Sphinx is much older, possibly dating back to 6000 BCE.

Around 1400 BCE, desert sand had completely buried the Sphinx. Prince Thutmose IV fell asleep next to it without knowing it was there. He dreamed that a god promised to make him ruler of Egypt if he freed the Sphinx from the sand. When he woke up, Thutmose ordered workers to dig out the statue. He later became pharaoh and placed a stone tablet called the Dream Stela between the Sphinx's paws to remember this event.

The Sphinx was not always the tan color we see today. Ancient Egyptians painted it with bright colors: red, blue, and yellow. The face was probably painted red, and the headdress was yellow. Scientists found small amounts of red paint still visible on the statue's face and ear. They also discovered traces of blue and yellow paint on the body. The colors have faded over thousands of years due to sun, wind, and sand.

Scientists once thought slaves built the Great Sphinx. However, new discoveries changed this idea. Archaeologists found that the workers ate expensive meat from cows, sheep, and goats. This was food for important people, not slaves. As quoted from Enjoy Travel, Scientist Mark Lehner believes about 100 skilled workers spent three years carving the Sphinx. They also found tools and unfinished lunch meals near the work site, showing the workers left suddenly before finishing their work.

Many people believe French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte destroyed the Sphinx's nose with cannons in 1798. This is not true. Drawings from the 1700s show the Sphinx was already missing its nose before Napoleon was born. Historical writings from the 1400s say a religious man named Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr broke the nose to stop people from worshipping the Sphinx. The original nose was about one meter long and one meter wide.

The Great Sphinx once had a large beard on its chin. Most of it fell off due to erosion over thousands of years. Today, parts of the beard are kept in the British Museum in London and the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. French archaeologist Vassil Dobrev believes the beard was not part of the original statue. He thinks workers added it later, possibly during Thutmose IV's restoration project around 1400 BCE.