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Originally posted by daaskapital
Another question.
Why are most ancient statues missing a nose (regardless of what civilisation)?
"Cutting off the nose to spite the face" is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning against acting out of pique, or against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger.[1]
Originally posted by HomerinNC
The nose was the unfortunate victim of target practice by the Turks in the Turkish period
...Another Riddle of the Sphinx was how it lost its nose. It is widely accepted that it occurred during the Muslim Arabs' invasion of Egypt. Since the Sphinx was a symbol of pagan gods, the Arabs defaced it by scratching the eyes and chopping off the nose.
Originally posted by syrinx2112
reply to post by Ben81
I remember my history teacher telling me the nose is gone because of napoleons troops having cannon target practice...
Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
Originally posted by syrinx2112
reply to post by Ben81
I remember my history teacher telling me the nose is gone because of napoleons troops having cannon target practice...
That is the story history tells us and i don't doubt it, Napolean's pomp would have had no problem allowing him to blast the nose off an ancient structure, he probably thought to add his own flair to history.
The one-metre-wide nose on the face is missing. Examination of the Sphinx's face shows that long rods or chisels were hammered into the nose, one down from the bridge and one beneath the nostril, then used to pry the nose off towards the south.
Lehner, Mark (1997). The Complete Pyramids. Thames & Hudson. p. 41. ISBN 0-500-05084-8.