The second great myth about Napoleon, after his short stature, is the story that on Napoleon's orders the Great Sphinx was shot in the face with a cannon and had its nose knocked off

The second great myth about Napoleon, after his short stature, is the story that on Napoleon's orders the Great Sphinx was shot in the face with a cannon and had its nose knocked off. The legend is easily refuted by images of the Sphinx made before Bonaparte was even born, such as this profile of 1737, which shows neither nose nor beard. Moreover, the historians of antiquity also relate that the Sphinx's beard and nose had long been lost. In particular, al-Maqrizi, who died in 1442, writes of the desecration of the ancient monument so that it should no longer depict a human face. Most probably the nose was knocked off between the 3rd and 11th centuries. Archaeologists, furthermore, have established that the nose was indeed struck off with tools, not shot away. As for the beard, depictions of the Sphinx without it are found as early as the turn of the Common Era. Incidentally, the beard itself has been found and is kept in the British Museum