The Sphinx

Nothing represents the mysteries of ancient Egypt more than the Great Sphinx. How did the Egyptians build this crouching lion, human-headed creature?
Who built it and why?
The riddles of the Sphinx have puzzled all who have laid eyes on it, from emperors to presidents.
Before it’s too late, two teams of scientists and builders are tackling the age-old riddles of the Sphinx. They’re immersing themselves in the world of ancient Egypt, a world of pharaohs and pyramids, animal gods and mummies, sun worship and human sacrifice.
Will the eternal sands of Egypt finally give up the secrets of this human-headed lion?
Giant paws, longer than a city bus stretch out before it. A whipping tail, wraps around its back. And its enormous body, about the weight of fifty 747 jumbo jets, is on haunches, poised to pounce.
But this lion has a human head as big as a house, for this is the Great Sphinx.
At nearly 240 feet long—almost the length of a football field—and almost 70 feet tall—the height of the White House—the Sphinx is the largest statue in all of Egypt, a land renowned for its oversized monuments.
It is here at Giza, home of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids, where building big really booms. Around 2500 B.C., more than 4,000 years ago, the Giza Plateau is a desolate landscape. A visionary Pharaoh named Khufu constructs the Great Pyramid. He’s followed by his son, and then his son’s son, who build two more pyramids.
Designed as giant tombs to insure the kings’ safe passage to the afterlife, the pyramids and their surrounding temples transform an area of the Giza Plateau into a vast city of the dead. Pharaoh Khufu’s pyramid is the most famous gravestone on Earth.