World Art Utopia

Great Sphinx of Giza — Giza

A man with a backpack reaches out a hand so that it seems to touch the stone face of the Great Sphinx of Giza against a clear blue sky
Artwork FileGiza, Egypt

Great Sphinx

SeenSep 2023

Believed built under King Khafre (Smithsonian Journeys) · Giza Plateau · circa 2500 BC

Photo: Francesco Gasparetti / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.

The Great Sphinx lies on the Giza Plateau, within UNESCO’s World Heritage property “Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur”. Smithsonian Journeys describes a massive limestone creature, part lion and part human, 240 feet long and 66 feet tall, believed to have been built around 2500 BC in the reign of King Khafre. Source Source Reported

Seen September 2023: the Sphinx in profile with the Great Pyramid · Wikimedia Commons. Source Checked

More photos

The Great Sphinx of Giza seen in profile with the Great Pyramid behind it under a blue sky, 2023
2023 In profile, with the Great PyramidPhoto: Mustang Joe / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. Part lion, part human
    Smithsonian Journeys calls it a “massive limestone creature” that is “part lion and part human”. Source Reported
  2. Built under Khafre
    It is believed to have been built circa 2500 BC, during the Fourth Dynasty reign of King Khafre, according to Smithsonian Journeys. Source Reported
  3. No nose by 1737
    Napoleon’s soldiers often get the blame, but Danish explorer Frederic Louis Norden sketched the Sphinx in 1737 and “his drawings depict no nose”. Source Reported
  4. A 14th-century culprit?
    The medieval historian al-Maqrizi credited the damage to a 14th-century Sufi named Muhammad Sa’im al-Dahr, Smithsonian Journeys reports. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Giza Plateau, Giza, Egypt. Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1737

    Norden draws it without a nose · Smithsonian

  2. 200625 Dec

    A visitor “pats” its face · Commons

  3. 202320 Sep

    In profile with the pyramid · Commons

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Place
Giza Plateau, Giza, Egypt Source Source Source Checked
World Heritage
Part of “Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur” Source Checked
Date
Reign of King Khafre: circa 2500 BC (Smithsonian Journeys); “likely” Khafre, c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE (Britannica) Source Source Reported
Material
Limestone; Britannica says carved from a single piece Source Source Checked
Size
About 240 feet (73 m) long and 66 feet (20 m) high Source Source Checked
Nose
Already missing in Frederic Louis Norden’s 1737 drawings Source Reported
Maker
Not named in our sources Unconfirmed

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 10 November 2026. How we verify art