The Sphinx’s original appearance
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest statue in the world. Originally, it was decorated with bright paint, only fragments of which remain today behind one of its ears. It also had a nose and a ceremonial beard. The remains of these can be seen in British and Egyptian museums. Some experts believe that the Sphinx may originally have had the head of a lion or a dog, and a human face was only carved over this much later. This would explain the large difference between the proportions of the gigantic body and the small head.