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The Great Sphinx of Egypt remains one of
the most surprisingly monuments of Egypt. Although it may appear
as in the pyramids` shadow, the sphinx keeps its originally
height of almost 20 meters and a length of over 72 meters. The
Egyptian Sphinx combines the head, the intelligence of the
pharaoh, with the strong body of the lion, which was also
associated with the solar symbolism. Although the sphinxes are
common symbols in the Egyptian art, the Great Sphinx is one of
the oldest sphinxes and without any doubt, the biggest of all
them. The original significance of the Sphinx is unsure but the
later Egyptians considered it a embodiment of the Horemakhet,
the sun's god. It is difficult to be established the topography
of the emplacement before the building of the Sphinx because
there were excavations on large areas to derive the blocks
needed for the pyramids construction. But, the Sphinx head seems
to had been sculpted from one natural knot of rock lived
vertically upon the plateau level; a natural block of rock,
raw, can be seen today, in vicinity. The Sphinx head and the
superior part of the Sphinx body lays upon the level of the
surrounding ground. The inferior parts of the Sphinx body were
sculpted under the plateau level. The Sphinx is not well
proportioned, its body is too long and the head is too short.
Maybe the sculptors hadn't had enough material to make the
statue. The head dimensions were limited to the natural knot
of rock from which it was sculpted, and the body must had been
lengthen because of one vertical fissure that in present is
situated right in front of the back feet. But the Sphinx strange
proportions can also be a sign of the sculptors` lack of
experience. |
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