Australain target practice

von_noobie · Post by **von_noobie** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:42 am

When the Australian troops started arriving in Egypt in ww1 in preparation for Gallipoli an australin unit used the Sphinx for target practice, Thus the Sphinx has no nose any more, my question is
What australian unit shot the nose of the Sphinx?

Paulus II · Post by **Paulus II** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 5:28 am

hi von noobie,

I wonder where you got that story. The nose of the Sphynx has been missing for a lot longer than the arrival of Australian troops.
For a long time the shooting off of the nose has been attributed to Napoleons troops doing artillery practice but contemporary drawings show the nose was already off by then.
If the nose was shot off at all it was most probably done by Turkish troops. Egypt was part of the Ottoman empire from 1517 till Napoleons arrival in 1805.
Personally I find the story that the nose was shot off quite unlikely. Although there is considerable damage to the head it really doesn't look like it was subjected to an artillery barrage. More so since around the sides of the head there are still some traces of the paint that once probably covered the entire statue.

Paul

phylo_roadking · Post by **phylo_roadking** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 5:39 am

All, its NOT lost its in the Egyptian Collection of the British Museum in London, but too big for regular display. Its was broken off when the Turks originally took Egypt, in the way that proto-Moslems and Koptic Christains sue dot break up each others religious statues etc in rioting in Antioch and Alexandria etc. in the eraly Christian Era. Defaced to deface the image of a pagan god....but the thing is SO big its the onlt thing they could do to it! Bit like the Taliban using Buddhist shrines etc for target practice in Afgahnistan.

phylo