🦁 Great Sphinx of Giza
Colossal limestone guardian of the Giza Plateau
📋 Fast Facts
- Monumental limestone statue: 73 metres long, 20 metres high, carved from single bedrock
- Attributed to Pharaoh Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BC) during the Old Kingdom
- Part of Memphis and its Necropolis UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed 1979
- Missing nose; exact circumstances of loss remain debated by scholars
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a colossal limestone statue depicting a mythical creature with the body of a lion and human head, located on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt. Measuring approximately 73 metres long and 20 metres high, it ranks among the world's largest single-stone statues. The monument faces west to east with its gaze fixed on the horizon, and scholars generally attribute it to Pharaoh Khafre, though no definitive evidence exists to confirm this identification ...