The Great Sphinx of Giza is a huge limestone statue with the body of a lion and the head of a human, probably a king, which sits on the Giza plateau near Cairo, close to the pyramids. It was carved from a mass of natural rock, and most Egyptologists attribute it to the reign of the pharaoh Khafre in the Old Kingdom, around the 26th century BCE. It is roughly 70 meters long and 20 meters high. Over the millennia it was often buried in sand, and ancient rulers such as Thutmose IV cleared it. Its nose was lost long ago, and the weathering of its soft rock has required modern restoration. It is one of the best-known monuments of ancient Egypt.
Before and after
- c. 2,601 BCECaral flourishes in the Norte Chico
- from c. 2,601 BCE to 1,901 BCEThe Indus Valley cities reach maturity
- c. 2,590 BCEConstruction of Red Pyramid
- c. 2,589 BCEConstruction of Dahshur
- 26th century BCEThe Great Sphinx
- c. 2,560 BCEConstruction of Great Pyramid of Giza
- c. 2,510s BCEConstruction of Pyramid of Menkaure
- from 26th century BCE to 20th century BCELagash
- from c. 2,500 BCE to 64 BCEPhoenicia
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 1,752 BCECode of Hammurabi
- c. 430s BCEHerodotus writes the Histories
- c. 20 BCEVirgil's Aeneid is published
- c. 4 BCENativity of Jesus
- 48 CEPublication of Epistle to the Galatians
- 325 CEFirst Council of Nicaea
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.