Fanspot
The Sphinx
“Maybe we could glue it back together?”
Obelix
The vile Amonbofis paid the stone supplier not to supply the construction site, stopping the construction of the palace for Caesar. Asterix, Obelix, Getafix and Dogmatix decide to accompany the supplier to ensure that the stones are received correctly. They take the opportunity to visit the Giza plateau with its pyramids.
While Getafix is having his portrait cut out, Obelix has the good idea of climbing the Sphinx to get a good view. Asterix advises him not to do this, Obelix does as he pleases and continues climbing. As he approaches the summit, he puts his foot on the nose of the legendary creature, causing it to fall.
René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo explain with humor the origin of the disappearance of the famous nose of the Sphinx. This is not the only nose they talk about in the album: Cleopatra’s nose is often mentioned by the different protagonists when they mention that she has a pretty nose. This running gag alludes to the famous quote from Blaise Pascal’s Pensées: “Cleopatra’s nose, if it had been shorter, the whole face of the earth would have changed“.
This is the number of liters of beer that were necessary for the conception of the album alongside 14 liters of Indian ink, 30 brushes, 62 pencils…
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Sphinx of Giza is a theriant statue of Egypt, located in front of the great pyramids of the Giza plateau.
Made around 2500 BC, the Sphinx of Giza is the largest monolithic monumental sculpture in the world. It measures 20,22 meters in height for 14 meters in width and 73,5 meters in length. Its mass would be about 20,000 tons. The original natural promontory in which the Sphinx is carved is in limestone.
The sculpture represents a recumbent sphinx, it was long attributed to Khephren, a pharaoh of the IVth dynasty of the Old Kingdom. But it could actually represent his father Cheops. Archaeologists and historians think that the Sphinx had a role of guardian of the site and of the solar temple built next to the pyramid of Cheops.
Concerning the fall of its nose, the legend tells that it would be a missed cannon shot from a soldier of Bonapart during the Egyptian campaign. But since 1980, the German historian Ulrich Haarmann revealed that the face was damaged in 1378 by Mohammed Sa’im al-Dahr who wanted to destroy the statue, which he considered a pagan idol, by focusing on the nose and ears. He was hanged for vandalism. A theory that seems to be true because the archaeological study of the archaeologist Mark Lehner shows very clear traces of destruction by tool. A more plausible theory than the accidental destruction of the nose by some stubborn coated Gallic.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Asterix and Cleopatra
Cleopatra makes a bet with Caesar that her people are still capable of great achievements. She orders Edifis to build a sumptuous palace for Caesar.
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
Discover all the places Asterix on our map
By Damien Biju
Passionné par le cinéma, les séries d'animations et les jeux vidéo, il rêve secrètement de voyager à travers le monde à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture à bord d'une Delorean.