The Sphinx, to put it mildly, is not a needle to get lost.
And nevertheless, in ancient times, he periodically "disappeared" from Giza.
If we take the "Geography" of the famous traveler Strabo and unfold it on the chapter devoted to Egypt, we will find there hundreds of the smallest details about the Nile, Egyptian cities, rulers, pyramids - and not a single word about the grandiose colossus from Giza.
The word "sphinx", however, is mentioned several times, but they mean small statues at the entrance to the sanctuary.
Herodotus, Diodorus of Siculus - not a word either. What a strange conspiracy of silence?
By the way, there are legends that the sphinx, offended by the bad behavior of people, can go into the desert.
Was he really out for a walk when Herodotus examined the pyramids?..
Only Pliny the Elder describes the lion-man in detail.
Promotional video:
Talking about Giza, he is very critical of the pyramids, calling them "the idle and stupid display of the kings of their wealth," and then goes on to the Sphinx.
As you can see, Pliny also noticed that other famous historians and travelers ignore the Sphinx.
Now let's go back to Strabo, who will give us a clue:
The "main" sphinx was also covered with sand. In Egyptian sources, there is information that it took a whole year to dig up the statue with wooden shovels.
Obviously, not all pharaohs had the desire to do this on a regular basis, so many ancient historians simply did not see the most grandiose sculpture in the world, sunk in the sand.