The Nose of the Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is the largest monolith and oldest sculpture in the world at 240 feet long and about 4,500 years old. It acts as a guardian over the pyramids of Giza; Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chepren) and Menkaure (Mykerinos).

One of the most famous features of the Sphinx, other than it's breathtaking and imposing presence is that where it's nose once was, is now a metre-long empty space.

Over time, there have been many theories, myths and legends on how it lost it's nose - and it is still a much-disputed point.

A popular theory is that Napeleon used the Sphinx as target practise - but drawings and sketches of the Sphinx from well before this period show that nose was already missing.

Another is that the nose was struck off by Sufis in order to deface something that they saw as forbidden - a sculpture of a human, imitating creation. This is Zahi Hawass's explanation.