Unlike the pyramids 150 feet above, the [P 004&P005&P007 / Great Sphinx]
is rapidly falling apart. The causes are not certain, but two likely culprits are air pollution from the environs of Cairo and sewage from the encroaching village of Nazlet el-Saman which has no sanitation system. The inferior limestone it is carved from is full of joints and cracks that further its destruction (in February 1988, a 600-pound slab dropped off from the statue's shoulder). However, the worst damage to the Sphinx was suffered about 200 years ago when its face was used as target practice for the Mamluk army's artillery. Today, the daily traffic of cars, buses, tourists, camels and horses on the Giza plateau, must surely take their toll. The Getty Conservation Institute has mounted a weather station on the monument's backside to monitor the environment for clues to the feline's malady, but an effective cure is questionable. Restoration work since 1981 has met with mixed reviews from Egyptologists. A full revival of the exterior is estimated to cost in excess of $8 million.
