Obverse. Image Courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS.com)
  • 5 Pounds 1994, KM# 970, Egypt, Protect Our World, Pyramids and Sphinx
  • 5 Pounds 1994, KM# 970, Egypt, Protect Our World, Pyramids and Sphinx
Description

The Giza pyramid complex (Arabic: مجمع أهرامات الجيزة), also called the Giza necropolis, is the site on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo, Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx of Giza. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, between 2600 and 2500 BC. The site also includes several cemeteries and the remains of a workers' village.

The Giza pyramid complex consists of the Great Pyramid (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c. 2580 – c. 2560 BC), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred metres to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred metres farther south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.

Obverse

Depicts the Great Sphinx of Giza in the front of the Great Giza Pyramids, denomination left of them. The inscription "Pyramids and Sphinx" above in Arabic and "Protect Our World" below in English.

The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Sphinx of Giza or just the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. Facing directly from West to East, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx is generally believed to represent the Pharaoh Khafre.

Cut from the bedrock, the original shape of the Sphinx has been restored with layers of blocks. It measures 73 metres (240 ft) long from paw to tail, 20.21 m (66.31 ft) high from the base to the top of the head and 19 metres (62 ft) wide at its rear haunches. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of the Pharaoh Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BC).

أبو الهول و الهرم
٥
جنيهات
PROTECT OUR WORLD

Reverse

Cartouche divides date in Arabic (Hijri) and (Georgian) above mirrored wings around the country name (Arab Republic of Egypt) and state name (Egypt) above wings.

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to the oval, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the feature did not come into common use until the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu. While the cartouche is usually vertical with a horizontal line, if it makes the name fit better it can be horizontal, with a vertical line at the end (in the direction of reading). The ancient Egyptian word for cartouche was shenu, and the cartouche was essentially an expanded shen ring. Demotic script reduced the cartouche to a pair of brackets and a vertical line.

١٤١٥ - ١٩٩٤
EGYPT
جمهورية مصر العربية

Edge

5 Pounds

KM# 970
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.925
Weight 17.5 g
Diameter 37 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal

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