ABSTRACT
The colossal stone monument known as the Sphinx stands guard to the Giza plateau’s greatest pyramids of ancient Egypt. Towering more than ten times the height of humans, the Sphinx – a sculpture that is part man, part god, and part animal – was built about 2600 BCE. It serves as a powerful reminder of Egypt’s past. Although we tend to think of such monumental treasures as unchanging cultural memories, such is not the case. By the time of the pharaoh Thutmose IV, living in 1401 BCE, the Sphinx was already ancient, already altered, and in need of major restoration. According to the inscriptions on a red granite slab erected in front of the statue, Thutmose cleared away the desert sand and restored the damaged lion body with large limestone blocks for protection against wind erosion.
