Postcard of the Sphinx by A. Bishai (ca 1958). So far any information regarding the artist for this postcard remains a mystery, unless someone can provide any further information. In which case I would love to hear and then share with all. It would appear that he is Egyptian water colour artist Ayoub Bishai, and he is mostly known for his series of mid-20^th Century illustrations for picture post cards. These were published by the Eastern Publishing Company in Cairo.

The subject of this post card is the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt which is located about 350 metres from the Cheop’s Pyramid. The colossal limestone Sphinx, represents a lion with a human head which some believe to be a likeness of Chephren standing guard over his tomb. It stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile at Giza. It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 metres long, 19.3 metres wide, and 20.22 m high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and the basic facts about it, and its builders are still debated. Pliny The Elder mentioned the Great Sphinx in his book, Natural History, commenting that the Egyptians looked upon the statue as a “divinity” that has been passed over in silence and “that King Harmais was buried in it. Despite conflicting evidence and viewpoints over the years, the view held by modern Egyptologists at large remains that the Great Sphinx was built in approximately 2500 BC by the pharaoh Khafra’ the builder of the Second Pyramid at Giza.

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