Residues of red pigments on the face of the Sphinx suggest the statue may have been painted. When he became Pharaoh, Khafre constructed his own pyramid next to his father’s though Khafre’s pyramid is 10 feet shorter than the Great Pyramid, it is surrounded by a more elaborate complex that includes the Great Sphinx and other statues. Hieroglyphic texts suggest Khafre’s father, Pharaoh Khufu, built the Great Pyramid, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza. The most common and widely accepted theory about the Great Sphinx suggests the statue was erected for the Pharaoh Khafre (about 2603-2578 B.C.). In Greek traditions, the sphinx also had wings, as well as the tail of a serpent-in legends, it devours all travelers unable to answer its riddle. Compared with the Egyptian model, the Asian sphinx had eagle wings, was frequently female, and often sat on its haunches with one paw raised in depictions. From Egypt, the sphinx imported to both Asia and Greece around 15th to 16th century B.C.

Short old kingdom tales