What is the name of the large limestone statue near the Giza pyramids?

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What is the name of the large limestone statue near the Giza pyramids? It is the Great Sphinx of Giza.

The monument is a reclining sphinx with a human head and a lion’s body. It was carved directly from limestone bedrock on the Giza Plateau, rather than assembled from separately carved blocks. At about 73 metres long, 19 metres wide, and 20 metres high, it is one of Egypt’s most recognizable ancient monuments.

The Sphinx was created during the Old Kingdom, probably around the reign of Khafre in the 26th century BCE, although the exact identity represented by its face remains debated. Many Egyptologists associate it with Khafre, whose pyramid and funerary complex lie nearby, but proposals connecting it with Khufu or other royal figures have also been made.

A common mix-up is to treat “sphinx” as the statue’s unique personal name. The word comes from Greek tradition; the ancient Egyptian name associated with the monument in the New Kingdom was Hor-em-akhet, meaning “Horus in the horizon.” Its missing nose was not destroyed by Napoleon’s soldiers, as a persistent legend claims.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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