Sphinx and Pyramid, Egypt, 1850s

These 26th-century BC structures are made from limestone, with granite also used in the pyramids (tombs for the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt). At left is the pyramid of the pharaoh Khafre. 

The Great Sphinx, dating to the same period, is a statue of a mythical creature with the face of a man and the body of a lion. Carved out of the surrounding bedrock, it has a height of 20 meters. 

The lower portions of the Great Sphinx, covered by desert sands, were excavated several times in the 19th century. Khafre’s Pyramid reaches a height of 143 meters. This view, by the photographer Félix Teynard, was published in 1851.