Cairo Attractions

Venue: The Pyramids at Giza    When: Daily

The enigmatic Sphinx has strong claims to being the most famous (and possibly the oldest) surviving structure in the whole of Egypt. The majestic beast is carved from one vast block of limestone. With the body of a lion and a human head thought to be that of the Pharoah Khafre, the beautiful Sphinx is 240 feet long and 66 feet tall.

One of the most persistent myths surrounding the Sphinx is that its nose was blown off by the troops of Napoleon, who used it for target practice. This is utter hogwash. Several destructive forces converged on the Sphinx through the centuries before Napoleon came to Egypt, including in 1380AD when the iconoclastic ardour of Mohammed Sa'im al-Dahr, a fanatical Muslim, damaged the ears and nose of the Sphinx. He was lynched by the locals after the act. Then the Mamluks did indeed use the monument as target practice. The charge against Napoleon is particularly unfair because he brought a team of savants to Egypt to study its rich lore and civilisation.

The true origins of the sphinx are unclear. While the scholarly consensus agrees that it was built by Khafre, who built the largest of the three Pyramids of Giza, others argue that it was already in place when the pyramids were built. Some claim that the patterns of erosion on its surface indicate water damage, a bit strange seeing that the Giza area has been pretty dry for the last 6,000 years. New Agers come to make a pilgrimage and in fact the riddle of the Sphinx has been rumbling so long, it's unlikely its origins will ever be revealed.

The Sphinx remains unperturbed, gazing down on tourists today with the same enigmatic eyes which watched the Ancient Egyptian empire rise and fall, the troops of Napoleon trot by and the tanks of the Second World War rumble through.