<P> In the beginning of the year 1887, the chest, the paws, the altar, and plateau were all made visible . Flights of steps were unearthed, and finally accurate measurements were taken of the great figures . The height from the lowest of the steps was found to be one hundred feet, and the space between the paws was found to be thirty - five feet long and ten feet wide . Here there was formerly an altar; and a stele of Thûtmosis IV was discovered, recording a dream in which he was ordered to clear away the sand that even then was gathering round the site of the Sphinx . </P> <P> The entire Sphinx was finally excavated in 1925 to 1936, in digs led by Émile Baraize . </P> <P> In 1931 engineers of the Egyptian government repaired the head of the Sphinx . Part of its headdress had fallen off in 1926 due to erosion, which had also cut deeply into its neck . This questionable repair was by the addition of a concrete collar between the headdress and the neck, creating an altered profile . Many renovations to the stone base and raw rock body were done in the 1980s, and then redone in the 1990s . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

How did the egyptian sphinx lose its nose