Who knocked off the Sphinxes Nose?

Question

Was it Napolian?

Answer 1

While I am not sure who did it, I know it was not Napoleon. It was done long before he was around.

That is just another myth going arournd. . .

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sphinx_of_Giza


The one-meter-wide nose on the face is missing. A legend that the nose was broken off by a cannon ball fired by Napoléon’s soldiers still survives, as do diverse variants indicting British troops, Mamluks, and others. However, sketches of the Sphinx by Frederick Lewis Norden made in 1737 and published in 1755 illustrate the Sphinx without a nose. The Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi, writing in the fifteenth century, attributes the vandalism to Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr, a Sufi fanatic from the khanqah of Sa'id al-Su'ada. In 1378, upon finding the Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest, Sa'im al-Dahr was so outraged that he destroyed the nose. Al-Maqrizi describes the Sphinx as the “Nile talisman” on which the locals believed the cycle of inundation depended.

Curious and droll fictional explanations of the nose’s disappearance occasionally appear in modern entertainment set in vaguely appropriate times, such as in Asterix and Cleopatra.

In addition to the lost nose, a ceremonial pharaonic beard is thought to have been attached, although this may have been added in later periods after the original construction. Egyptologist Rainer Stadelmann has posited that the rounded divine beard may not have existed in the Old or Middle Kingdoms, only being conceived of in the New Kingdom to identify the Sphinx with the god Horemakhet. This may also relate to the later fashion of pharaohs, which was to wear a plaited beard of authority—a false beard (chin straps are actually visible on some statues), since Egyptian culture mandated that men be clean shaven. Pieces of this beard are today kept in the British Museum and the Egyptian Museum.

Answer 2

Actually Napoleon was a great admirer of ancient history and considered himself an amateur archaeologist so it is unlikely he would have been as stupid as to use the sphinx for target practice. It is believed that a local Muslim cleric (his name was never recorded) was the one who actually knocked it off. Even after the spread of Christianity and Islam into the area many of the poorer people still held the superstition that the Sphinx had powers. In order to prove this belief false a local cleric apparently had a scaffolding built and proceeded to hammer a large chisel/pry bar into the Sphinx between the nose and the face. He then knocked the nose off. It is believe that locals probably broke the nose up into pieces to use for their houses.

Answer 3

Yes, that is very true. The missing nose of the Sphinx was the result of Alexander the Great, not Napoleon. Napoleon was actually very fond of Ancient Egypt.

Answer 4

if you are on active duty to investigate,and name and shame I suggest you apply for a licence to do so because you may be willing to hurtb someone as a result of any names .
it wasnt me who shot the nose,gasp