EGYPT: Crumbling Sphinx

Arriving at Manhattan from Cairo, one Arthur K. Woodley, civil engineer, recounted impressions gleaned during a recent visit to the Great Sphinx of Giza, as follows:

“There is grave danger that the cracks and fissures which have developed in the Sphinx may cause it to break up into shapeless chunks of stone, unless the efforts at restoration now being made by the Egyptian Government are successful. . . .

“The Sphinx’s Egyptian beard, which descended from the chin to the chest, disappeared centuries ago; and its loss threw a tremendous strain on the neck. Now the back and sides of the neck have been worn away by the erosion of time and there is danger that the head may topple off. At present the head leans slightly forward, but its weight has been eased by the breaking off of large parts of the headdress. . . .

“Of course everyone knows that Napoleon’s soldiers tried to chip the face of the Sphinx into the likeness of the Corsican. Some of his men chipped once too often at tne lobe of the left ear, which fell off and nearly crushed five of them. . . .

“At present the Egyptian engineers are clearing away the sand at the base of the figure, and building a high protecting wall at a little distance, to serve as a sand break. . . .

“The removal of the sand will give the Sphinx a much grander appearance. . . .”