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One of the great crimes against history along with the Taliban's destruction of the 2 carved Buddhas will be the continued butchery of the Sphinx. It has survived millennia, but has suffered at the clumsy hands of the Arabs, who only recently and grudgingly acknowledged their responsibility after their usurpation of north Africa. Many artifacts in Africa were destroyed or built over by invading Muslims from the east, who denigrated anything that predated Islam as unworthy of prevervation. The removal of the Beard piece by English robbers caused stresses on the face of the Sphinx, causing a chunk of shoulder to fall off. It was patched with the unsightely white plaster you see here. Attempts to get the beard piece returned from the English museum have been refused.