What Pharaoh was buried in the Sphinx?

The most common and widely accepted theory about the Great Sphinx suggests the statue was erected for the Pharaoh Khafre (about 2603-2578 B.C.). Hieroglyphic texts suggest Khafre's father, Pharaoh Khufu, built the Great Pyramid, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza.



People Also Ask

Some tourists planning a Great Sphinx of Giza tour wonder if you can go inside og the Great Sphinx enclosure. It is possible, but only during our tour of the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx.

MORE DETAILS

NARRATOR: According to this theory a fanatical dervish named Muhammad Saim al-Dahr was responsible. He is said to have hired some men to smash off the Sphinx's nose as she was still worshipped as a false god. To this day, the Arabs refer to the Sphinx as Abul Hol or father of terror.

MORE DETAILS

Egyptologists believe the Sphinx to be approximately 4500 years old.

MORE DETAILS

The Sphinx is home to a number of tunnels and passages. Some were created by treasure hunters, others by people re-carving the Sphinx, and others are unknown. There is even a shaft at the top of the Sphinx's head. There are even reportedly access tunnels to some large and natural caves directly under the Sphinx.

MORE DETAILS

Whereas the body has suffered the most erosion, the face has also been damaged, and its nose is notably missing.

MORE DETAILS

Egyptologists mostly take it as settled fact that the Sphinx was carved about the same time as the Pyramids with which it shares the Giza Plateau and that its gentle, enigmatic face (minus a nose, a beard and other bits that have fallen or been knocked off over the centuries) is actually the likeness of a Pharaoh of ...

MORE DETAILS

There was a single sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. Apollodorus describes the sphinx as having a woman's face, the body and tail of a lion and the wings of a bird.

MORE DETAILS

This was the Sphinx's riddle: “What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet in midday, and three feet in the evening?” At around this time Oedipus came to Thebes (since he didn't want to go back home to Corinth), and he solved the riddle. Oedipus said, “The answer is 'man'.

MORE DETAILS

Adult tickets are 80 Egyptian pounds ($9) per person, while student tickets cost 40 Egyptian pounds (less than $5) each. All tickets include entrance into the Great Sphinx's temples, as well as access to the adjacent pyramids.

MORE DETAILS

The Sphinx's Riddles Once you answer the questions, you will be told to find the image of the answer you chose on one of the nearby pillars. Picking an incorrect image and then returning to the Sphinx will result in an instant death.

MORE DETAILS