Summary:
This article is about the Great Sphinx which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. This ancient figure is a magnificent piece of work by ancient people with many interesting stories about its past.

Details or Sample:
The Great Sphinx Has a Riddle

The Great Sphinx crouches on a desert plateau near the city of Cairo to guard the pyramid of Khafra. There are two other pyramids on the same plateau. The pyramids contain the graves of three kings that the ancient Egyptian people called pharaohs. These pharaohs lived more than 4000 years ago. The largest pyramid is for Khufu or Cheops, the father of Khafra. The smallest is for Menkaure who might be the grandson of Khufu. The Great Sphinx watched over these pyramids never moving for thousands of years.
The ancient Egyptians built these pyramids at Giza after they established a stable life for the people in the valley of the Nile River. This time in the history of Egypt is called the Old Kingdom. These pyramids remained for more than 4000 years. This shows the glory, skill and intelligence of these people. The people placed their pharaohs in the pyramids to protect them. They also put supplies and other items in the pyramids to nourish the pharaohs in the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that their pharaohs became Osiris or the king of the dead in this afterlife. The new pharaoh became Horus who had invaded Egypt many years before. Horus was very important to the people of ancient Egypt. He was the protector of Ra, the sun god.
The largest of the pyramids at Giza is the pyramid built for Khufu or Cheops. Workers used 2.3 million stones to build this pyramid. Each stone weighed between 2 tons (1.8 tons metric) and 15 tons (13.6 tons metric). Inside there are three burial chambers. One of these is for the king and holds a sarcophagus or coffin made from red granite. Travelers long ago called this pyramid one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is the only one of these seven wonders that remains today.
Ancient Egyptian workers built the smallest pyramid for Mankaure. None of the Egyptologists, scientists that study ancient Egypt, can explain why this pyramid is so small. It might be because he died before he could plan the pyramid properly. It might be because they did not have enough room to make a bigger pyramid. The walls of this pyramid are made from granite rather than limestone like the other two pyramids. The sarcophagus of Mankaure disappeared when a ship taking it to England sank in the Mediterranean Sea.
The workers built the pyramid of Khafra to hold the sarcophagus of the son of Khufu. It is smaller than that of his father, but it is also higher. There are more buildings in this complex than in those of the other two pyramids. The Great Sphinx is part of the complex built for Khafra. The Sphinx faces a temple that sits in front of its giant paws. The temple is lower than the Sphinx. The face of the Sphinx is the face of Khafra carved in stone. The face of the Great Sphinx is one of the oldest portraits available of a historic person.
The Great Sphinx has the body of a powerful lion and the head of a brilliant king. The ancient people of Egypt believed that lions should guard their holy places. This gigantic creature is 240 feet (73 m) long and 66 feet (20 m) high. The Great Sphinx is the largest known sculpture in the world. Its face measures 13 feet (4 m) wide with eyes that are more than 6 feet (2 m) high. Part of the nose is gone, but the part that remains is more than 5 feet ( 1.5 m) long. The broad lips of the sculpture are more than 7 feet (2 m) wide. The paws of the Sphinx stretch out in front of it. The paws are not in proper proportion to the body.

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Written by: barbaraann
Available File Types:Text
Words: 1200