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One Egyptian legend says that a young prince fell asleep under the Sphinx.
He had a dream where the Sphinx appeared and promised to make him king if he
cleared away the sand covering his body. He did and this prince became
Thutmose IV.
The Great Sphinx is located at Giza in Egypt, by the Great Pyramid. It is a
statue with the body of a lion and the face of a human. The Great Sphinx
was built over 4,500 years ago. It is about 20 metres high and 73 metres
long. It is believed that the head of the Great Sphinx is a portrait of the
Pharaoh Khafre (2575BC - 2465BC), but no one is quite sure. The Sphinx was
made from soft limestone. It has spent most of its life buried in the sand.
Being buried for so long has preserved a lot of the original limestone that
the Sphinx was made of. Today the nose of the sphinx and the beard are
missing. In the 1980's the Sphinx began to be restored. More limestone
blocks were added and the original rock was repaired.
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ACTIVITY
Your interpretation of a Significant Place in Egypt
In groups of 2 or 3, discuss the following questions and answer them on the
work sheet provided.
- What do you think of when you hear the word "Sphinx"?
- Why do you think the Sphinx was built?
- Why would the Sphinx have been buried in the sand for so long?
- What do you think is destroying part of the Sphinx now and in the
future?
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This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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