[PIF]

3. The Great Sphinx of Giza

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3. Sphinx: Then again looking at the way a lion lies down with a full upright deep chest and a humped spine, the body of the sphinx looks exactly like the way a dog lies down with a lower shallow chest and a slightly rising straight spine, thus giving credence to R. Temple's theory that it originally had the head of an Egyptian jackal, plus the Egyptian name means Anubis, AIR. Ancient Egyptians would never have confused the two.

[SunkenCiv]

The term "sphinx" is a transliteration of the Egyptian (Old Coptic) term meaning "living image", so could easily refer to any statue. The Anubis idea is often put forward, also a more conventional lion. Clearly, the head has been recarved, since even those who won't accept the water erosion evidence are faced with the much worse erosion on the body compared with the head, which has been exposed to the elements while the rest of the statue has been covered with sand for most of the thousands of years since it was built. This is Colin Reader's take on it: