The Great Sphinx

The Great sphinx is a mystery till today and its existence is debated till today. A popular belief regarding the building of the structure is that various pharaohs added to the sphinx over the generation that led to the building of this architectural marvel.

The sphinx is the largest statue in Egypt and is built out of one solid rock of limestone. Laborers carved the limestone out by using copper tools. The copper tools were key in the building of the sphinx since the Egyptians discovered the technology of how to melt copper and make tools of their desire. By heating the copper and pounding it by stone they could create the appropriate tools, required to carve the Sphinx. According to the art historians the Sphinx took thousands of laborers and copper tools for its completion. The reason for this was that firstly it took great time to make the copper tools and these tools lost their sharpness easily. The use of copper tools although made carving easier these complications left to loss of time and use of more laborers. Another reason for this was the fact that the sphinx comprised of various layers of limestone that would turn into dust due to the desert climate. This problem led to them using hard stones to cover it over the generations.

The great sphinx had much complication in it making that involved hard labor, time, effort, tools and a lot of money. The common belief by historians is that the Great Sphinx due to these reasons is a symbol of power and wealth of the Egyptians. Although this belief is widely accepted there are hieroglyphics found on the Sphinx telling us a different reason for its making. The decoding of the heiroglaphics shows us that the structure was a gateway to the afterlife.