The Sphinx - Mystery of Ancient Egypt

The sphinx of Giza is an ancient iconic mythical creature usually comprised of a recumbent lion — animal with sacred solar associations — with a human head, usually that of a pharaoh.

The largest and most famous is Sesheps, the Great Sphinx of Giza, sited on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, facing due east, with a small temple between its paws. The face of the Great Sphinx is believed to be the head of the pharaoh Khafra (often known by the Greek version of his name, Chephren) or possibly that of his brother, the Pharaoh Djedefra, which would date its construction from the fourth dynasty (2723 BC–2563 BC). However, there are some alternative theories that re-date the Sphinx to the pre-Old Kingdom – and, according to one hypothesis, to prehistoric times. Other famous Egyptian sphinxes include the alabaster sphinx of Memphis, currently localizated within the open-air museum at that site; and the ram-headed sphinxes (in Greek, criosphinxes) representing the god Amun, in Thebes, of which there were originally some nine hundred. What name or names the builders gave to the statues is unknown. The inscription on a stele in the Great Sphinx dates it from one thousand years after the carving of the Sphinx,[1] gives three names of the sun: Kheperi - Re - Atum. The Arabic name of the Great Sphinx, Abu al-Hôl, translates as "Father of Terror". The Greek name "Sphinx" was applied to it in the Antiquity. But it has the head of a man, not of a woman.

From: Open Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx