Sphinx

The sphinx is one of the most enigmatic and famous monuments of ancient Egypt. Commissioned by Chephren in the mid-3rd millennium BC as part of a funerary complex, this book traces the history of its construction, its function and religious significance, its relationship to other later sphinxes and its enduring symbolism. The arrival of Christianity really sealed the fate of the sphinx and Zivie-Coche continues the history of this monument through the Greco-Roman period and touches on the excavations carried out in and around the monument in the 20th century.