 Adam Hennine, sculptor of the Sphinx. The Middle East Eye has a great new article about Adam Hennine who died this May. This guy was responsible for extensive restoration of the ancient monument that is the Great Sphinx and was mourned on his deathbed as Egypt's most prominent sculptor, famed for his work on the Sphinx. Wait, do you hear this? Written by Tim Cornwell and bringing to light a subject completely taboo, the further critical restoration in the late 80s of the Sphinx, which was collapsing on its right side. Adam Hennine was born in 1929 to a family of metal workers in Cairo. At the age of about 8 in a story he repeated often in articles and interviews. He went on a primary school trip to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, deeply affected by the ancient pharyonic sculptures. He made a clay figure of Pharaoh Ramses II, which he presented to his father a silversmith. This would lead to many exhibits of his work in many places, including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The artist was born in Cairo in 1929 and graduated as a sculptor from the Academy of Fine Art in Cairo in 1953. He was born in Paris in 1971 to join an exhibition of Egyptian contemporary art selling in the city for nearly 25 years. He may have missed Egyptian aesthetics in Paris, but at the same time he saw how the Art Deco, the old cinemas, and most of early 20th century modernity was inspired by Egyptian or pharyonic antiquities. The lines, pure, simple, modern. The Art Deco furniture, film sets, dance costumes, all of which started in Russia, Hollywood. The pharyonic influences was everywhere. The Sphinx, on which he worked and supervised the restoration for years, was very much part of his life. But when he was first offered the chance of working on the Sphinx, the greatest ancient sculpture of them all, he turned it down. The limestone Great Sphinx is 66 feet high and 240 feet long, thought to have been previously restored from a much more ancient monument under Pharaoh Khafri in about 4570 years ago and even then it was a restoration from something already existing as dereliction. From early on the monument needed upkeep, erosion quickly took its toll while more than once the Sphinx was dug out of drifting sand. About 3,000 years ago, if not before, early and extensive repairs were made on the monument. Sand was removed, a mud wall built for protection, and it seems a beard was added only to later fall off. The British Museum has a fragment excavated in 1817. The Romans also repaired the Sphinx while it's thought the famous nose was damaged much later, sometime in the 15th century. There were several efforts at stabilizing the Sphinx in the 20th century, from cement work in the 1920s to more extensive cement and cladding work in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, however, a large piece of stone fell off the Sphinx's right shoulder, bringing fears about its condition and whether its entire right shoulder could collapse. An inspection took place which showed that shameful recent repair work using modern cement next to ancient rock had created a much bigger issue than just the shoulder. It was agreed a new round of restoration must involve a sculptor and Hanai was called in and in 1989, he was named head of the design team with a second sculptor and a team of stone workers. They worked from old photographs of the Sphinx and a photogeometric map borrowing photographs from the US Library of Congress. The project included restoring not only the Sphinx's arm and chest area, but also the entire base of the monument, replacing mismatched stone and cement deep inside. A quarry was located to supply matching stone while ancient mortar at the site was analyzed to produce a similar blend and the renowned sculptor drew up the action plan over about 18 months. Proud of his contribution, he refused to be paid. Proud stones had changed all the proportions of the Sphinx and the use cement that caused cancer to the limestone so began the major work. He did not carve the stones, he directed the workmen to know how to put the stones on the body of the Sphinx and keep the proportions of the Sphinx. Hennain later continued his engagement with Egyptian sculpture when he became the founder of the International Sculpture Symposium in Aswan. His reputation will likely continue to rise. His home is not far from Giza and has been a museum since 2014 with a garden and three story building showing his sculptures and paintings. Adam Hennain is now the most prominent sculptor not just in Egypt, but in the whole Arab region. We hope you have enjoyed this video, comments below, thank you as always for watching.