Did Napoleon Shoot Off the Sphinx's Nose?
The persistent myth, the dated drawing that disproves it, and what likely really happened
No. Napoleon's troops did not shoot off the nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza. The decisive evidence is a drawing by the Danish naval captain and explorer Frederic Louis Norden, made in 1737 and published in 1755 — decades before Napoleon's Egyptian campaign of 1798 — which clearly shows the Sphinx already missing its nose. Since the nose was gone at least 61 years before Napoleon arrived, his soldiers cannot have caused the damage.
The most credible historical explanation comes from the 15th-century Arab historian al-Maqrizi, who wrote that the nose was deliberately destroyed around 1378 CE by a Sufi named Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr, reportedly as an act of iconoclasm against people who venerated the statue. Whether or not that specific account is exact, the physical evidence — chisel-like rods driven into the nose to lever it off — points to intentional human destruction long before Napoleon, not cannon fire. The 'Napoleon shot the nose' story is a myth, as are variants blaming British or Mamluk troops.
Myth vs. record
Myth: Napoleon's soldiers used the Sphinx for artillery target practice and blew off its nose in 1798. Record: Norden's 1737 drawing already shows the Sphinx noseless, and it was published in 1755, well before Napoleon set foot in Egypt. The timeline alone rules Napoleon out.
What the damage looks like: examination of the Sphinx shows rods or chisels appear to have been hammered into the nose — one into the bridge, one beneath the nostril — and used to pry the nose off toward the side. This is consistent with deliberate defacement, not with a cannonball, which would have shattered rather than levered the feature.
The likely culprit: al-Maqrizi, writing in the 15th century, attributes the destruction to Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr around 1378 CE. Some scholars treat the specific attribution cautiously, but agree the loss predates the modern era and was probably intentional iconoclasm.
Frequently asked questions
Did Napoleon destroy the Sphinx's nose?
No. The nose was already missing long before Napoleon reached Egypt in 1798. A drawing by Frederic Louis Norden made in 1737 (published 1755) shows the Sphinx without a nose, so Napoleon's troops could not have caused it.
How do we know Napoleon didn't do it?
Because the Sphinx is depicted noseless in Norden's 1737 sketch, published in 1755 — decades before Napoleon's 1798 Egyptian campaign. The dated image is direct proof the damage predates him.
What actually happened to the Sphinx's nose?
The most cited explanation, from the 15th-century historian al-Maqrizi, is that a Sufi named Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr deliberately destroyed it around 1378 CE as an act of iconoclasm. Physical evidence of rods driven into the nose to lever it off supports intentional destruction rather than cannon fire.
Did British or Mamluk soldiers shoot the nose off instead?
No. Those are variants of the same myth. All such stories are ruled out by the fact that the nose was already gone by 1737, long before any of the modern armies blamed for it were present.
Explore related events on the timeline
- The Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza on the timeline
- The ancient Near Eastern world
- Ancient Egypt's later intellectual center, Alexandria
Related guides
Sources consulted
- Smithsonian Magazine, 'Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx'
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Great Sphinx of Giza'
Researched with AI and verified against mainstream scholarship and the cited sources on this page. See our methodology and corrections policy.