An image shared on Facebook over 600 times purportedly shows a sphinx statue found after water levels decreased in the Colorado River.

Verdict: False

The photo was actually taken in Egypt, not in Colorado.

Fact Check:

The sphinx is an ancient mythical creature with a human head and a lion’s body, and is an important part of Greek and Egyptian art, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Great Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, is one of the largest statues carved from a single stone mass anywhere in the world, Smithsonian Magazine reported.

Now, an image on Facebook claims to show a smaller sphinx statue sticking out of a rocky outcrop that allegedly became visible when the water level of the Colorado River lowered. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Egypt Projecting The Palestinian Flag Onto The Pyramids?)

Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the image does not, however, show a sphinx found in Colorado. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities included the photo of the statue in a September 2018 Facebook post, which indicated the statue had been discovered when work was being done to lower the groundwater level in Egypt’s Kom Ombo temple.

The same image was also featured in a September 2018 Associated Press article about the discovery of the Sphinx. Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities believed the uncovered sphinx to be from the era of Egypt’s Ptolemaic Dynasty, which lasted roughly from 320 to 30 B.C., the outlet reported.

News outlets such as BBC News, Al-Jazeera and Newsweek reported the artifact’s discovery as well. All three outlets reported the sphinx was discovered in Egypt, not Colorado.