The Great Sphinx
is located in Giza near Khufu's pyramid (the Great Pyramid). The body is
made of limestone, a kind of natural rock. It is 240 feet long, 66
feet high, the paws are 50 feet long, and the head is 14 feet high and
30 feet long. It has the head of a pharaoh and the body of a lion. The
purpose of the Sphinx was to guard Khufu's pyramid, and to honor the gods.
Some people believe that
the Sphinx is magic. Egyptologists found erosion around the Great Sphinx
that shows it was built at the end of the last ice age. The seismic
survey indicates the existence of several tunnels in the bed rock
beneath the front paws containing the legendary "Hall of Records of Atlantis".
An Egyptian leader disagrees. He quotes," The Sphinx is the soul of Egypt."
Other smaller sphinxes
line the paths from temples to pyramids. Different forms of sphinxes can
have a human head, a ram head, or a falcon head. They always have a lion
body, but they can also have wings or a tail. Some people think that since
the head is smaller, different kings carved their face on it, causing the
face to be changed a lot.
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