Betty Jo Trejo, age 8, of Chula Vista;"Calif;

How old is the Sphinx?

In the days of ancient Egypt the sphinx was a very popular figure. He was carved in stone to ornament, say, a public building and a family often had a little wooden sphinx in the home, Of course, there was no living model of the sphinx, for no such creature ever existed. He was an imaginary animal with the body and paws of a lion, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird and the face of a man.

We are not certain of the exact age of the Great Sphinx which still stands in Egypt. But some experts think that he was built 3.n honor of the Pharaoh Khafre who lived about 2600 B.C. If this is so, the great stone image has stared out over the shifting desert sands for more than 4,000 years.