The Sphinx

If the Pyramids of Giza are the most famous landmark in the world, then the Sphinx is the most famous fictional animal. A lion's body with a man's head, the mythical creature was the symbol of fear and awesome power in ancient Egypt.
Egyptian tradition holds that the face of the Sphinx is the image of Khafre (Chephren). But archæologists believe it does not represent the form of a great leader. Rather, it is a mythical creature whose job is to guard the bodies of the dead in the cemeteries surrounding the Giza pyramid complex. This theory is supported in part because it was built more than 2,600 years before Khafre's rule.