# A wind-eroded yardang with a hard knob at its head end suggested the lion, and the builders finished it by…

> Still possible: A wind-eroded yardang with a hard knob at its head end suggested the lion, and the builders finished it by carving.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/answers/ANS0CTWSK301JCM/a-wind-eroded-yardang-with-a-hard-knob-at-its-head-end  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Great Sphinx of Giza](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx)[Did the builders start from a natural landform?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCQW3QY8/did-the-builders-start-from-a-natural-landform)Answer

Answer · Great Sphinx of Giza

# A wind-eroded yardang with a hard knob at its head end suggested the lion, and the builders finished it by…

A wind-eroded yardang with a hard knob at its head end suggested the lion, and the builders finished it by carving.

**Still possible** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** Its tests haven't settled it: two pieces of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- The head is cut from a harder bed than the body, as a resistant inclusion would require.
- The landform before quarrying stood above the plateau surface on its own.
- Other yardangs on the plateau or nearby share the Sphinx's orientation to the prevailing wind.

## What would rule it out

- Mapping showing the body was freed only by cutting the surrounding ditch into a flat bench, with no pre-existing relief above the surrounding surface.

## Evidence 2 for · none against

[Clay mounds with a hard inclusion in a water tunnel eroded into forms with head, undercut neck, arched back…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSKAT5EHH/clay-mounds-with-a-hard-inclusion-in-a-water-tunnel-eroded)

Suggestive

FOR

[The head is carved from the harder Member III limestone and the body from the softer beds of Member II.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSKJM1CH2/the-head-is-carved-from-the-harder-member-iii-limestone-and)

Established

FOR

## The questions it answers

[Did the builders start from a natural landform?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCQW3QY8/did-the-builders-start-from-a-natural-landform)

Part of [When was the Great Sphinx carved?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCG26180/when-was-the-great-sphinx-carved)

Most likelyThe body was a reserved block left by cutting a U-shaped ditch into a sloping bedrock bench; no free-standing…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). A wind-eroded yardang with a hard knob at its head end suggested the lion, and the builders finished it by… [Answer ANS0CTWSK301JCM]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CTWSK301JCM
```

Key

**ANS** 0CTWSK301JCM

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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