The Sphinx is one of Egypt's most recognisable landmarks, and has been so for thousands of years - Egyptians carved its images onto their tomb walls, and ancient Greek historians spoke of it. Though the majestic imagery of the lion is a common occurrence, the heads of Sphinxes over the world are different. The Sphinx in front of the Great Pyramid at Giza is the largest one we know of. Despite conflicting evidence and viewpoints over the years, the traditional view held by modern Egyptologists at large, remains that the Great Sphinx was built by pharaoh Khafra, the third ruler of the 4th Dynasty (approximately 2560 B.C. - 2450 B.C.).

In Greek mythology, the Sphinx had the face of a woman and a pair of wings; she wasn't just extremely intelligent, but said to be all-knowing. She would present them with the infamous riddle: "What walks on four hands in the morning, two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?" Anyone who failed to answer her question would be devoured. It wasn't until the hero Oedipus came along that she was defeated. When he answered her with "Man, who crawls as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, then uses a walking stick in old age", the Sphinx was so mortified that she casts herself down from the rock and perished.

Taken from a comic book I'm reading now - Treasure Hunting in Egypt