Pharaohs

Pharaohs were like the kings of ancient Egypt.
They wore false beards tied to their chins with cords.

A beard was a sign of a pharaoh’s god-like nature.

Even women pharaohs wore false beards!

Choice of crowns

The pharaohs of upper Egypt might wear the white crown while the red crown was for lower Egypt. The double crown was worn by the pharaohs of a united Egypt.

 

The Sphinx can be found south of the great Pyramid of Giza. It represents a creature with a lion's body and a human's head . The ''Sphinx ' means ' strangler '. The name was given by the Greeks to an interesting creature which had the head of a woman and the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. The Sphinx seems to have began in Egypt as the form of a sun god. The Egyptian Sphinx usually had a head of a pharaoh wearing his crown and the body of a lion. There were also sphinxes with ram heads , these were associated with the god Amun. Chepren's workers built the stone into a lion , and gave it their pharoah's face. This was done over 4,500 years ago!

The Sphinx is built from soft sandstone. The body is 60 metres in length and 20 metres tall.

Today the statue is crumbling because of wind, humidity and all of the smog from Cairo.

Did you know?

The Sphinx was buried for most of it's life in the coarse sand . When the pharaoh Thutmose was a prince, he went hunting and fell asleep under the shade of the Sphinx. During a dream, the Sphinx told Thutmose to clear away the sand because it was choking him. The Sphinx told Thutmose that if he did this, he would be given a reward of kingship. Thutmose did this task and then he became king .