Are you studying Ancient Egypt or Egypt in your history this year? If so, you and your children will want to learn more about the colossal statue of the Great Sphinx.
The Great Sphinx is an iconic landmark of Egypt. It is easily recognizable by young students as a symbol of Egypt along with the large pyramids. But do your children know the history of this interesting monolith?
Sphinx statues were built by Egyptians to guard important places such as the tombs of pharoahs and temples. A sphinx is a mythological creature that derives from Greek mythology. It has the body of a lion and the head a person. The head of these statues were almost always carved to look like a pharoah or a god.
Let’s learn about the most famous sphinx ever created – The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx is located at Giza, in Cairo, Egypt. It is a monolith and one of the largest and oldest statues in the world. It was was carved out of a solid piece of limestone rock in a bedrock trench. It is the largest free standing sculpture to survive from the Ancients time period. This statue is over 240 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet high.
If you visit Egypt today you can still see this statue, but it has definitely seen better days. At one time it was brightly painted and the sphinx had a braided beard and a full face. It’s eyes and nose alone would have been 5-6 feet tall! The weather, sand and time has eroded it over the years.
Today it is the color of the desert and it is missing a nose. There is no clear evidence on how it’s nose went missing, though there are lots of theories. You will learn more about those theories as you dig deeper into researching this fascinating statue.
Learn more about the history of the Great Sphinx with these free resources:
Articles and Fun Facts for Kids:
The Great Sphinx and the Glimmering Light of History – Amazeing Art
The Great Sphinx and legend of the sphinx with quiz – Ducksters
The Great Sphinx facts, information and photographs for kids – Kids Kiddle
18 Sphinx Facts for Kids – Facts Just for Kids
The Great Sphinx Facts and Worksheets – Kids Konnect
Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx – Smithsonian Mag
The Great Sphinx of Giza – Tour Egypt
Learn more about famous world landmarks with these printables:
FREE Resources on Famous World Landmarks
Architects and World Landmarks Fact Cards
Exploring Landmarks Notebooking Page Freebies
Printables and Lesson Plans:
Printable Egyptian Sphinx Paper Model – Twinkl
Why was the Great Sphinx Built? – Education.com
Color the Sphinx – Education.com
Save the Sphinx Lesson Plan and Building Activity – Crayola
You can find a digital activity guide with printable activities to learn all about the sphinx called Think Sphinx found under Family Guides at the Metropolitan Art Museum.
Egyptian Pyramid Project and Sphinx Build Grades 6-8 – Teachers Pay Teachers
The Great Sphinx Statue Lesson Plan – Lesson Planet
Websites and Virtual Tours:
Explore Ancient Egypt and the Great Sphinx in this interactive tour – NOVA
Digital Giza is a project based at Harvard University. It is an online digital repository of all archaeological documentation for the Sphinx and the pyramids in Giza. It is available to view in digital models on the website.
How to Tour Egypt’s Pyramids and the Sphinx with Google Maps
The Great Sphinx of Giza – Ancient Egypt Online
Ancient Egypt is a lot of fun to study with your children in history. There are tons of hands-on activities you can immerse your children in to help make this time period come alive.
Check out these other Ancient Egypt Resources:
FREE Ancient Egypt Guided Drawing Unit – This fun notebooking unit is for elementary and middle school ages. Your children will read about 10 different aspects of and they can draw half the image or the entire image on the grids provided. A short review quiz is also included for checking reading comprehension.
FREE Ancient Egypt Printables for History Studies
Date Dash Ancient Egypt Card Game
Newspaper Writing Prompts About Ancient Egypt
We value your privacy and promise never to send you spam; you can unsubscribe at anytime. View our Privacy Policy for more information on how we process your data.
Sarah is a wife, daughter of the King and Mama to 4 children (one who is a homeschool graduate)! She is a an eclectic, Charlotte Mason style homeschooler that has been homeschooling for almost 20 years.. She is still trying to find the balance between work and keeping a home and says she can only do it by the Grace of God, and Coffee!
Series Navigation Previous: FREE Resources About the Colosseum Next: FREE Resources About Petra
