# Why do black people think Napoleon shot off the Sphinx's nose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448 "2004-01-08T17:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/21 "2004-01-09T01:43:03Z")
**JRDelirious** , an honest question(and hijack). I’m aware that Caesar may have caused some damage to the library but evidence indicates it survived until the late 4th century (which would seem to pre date Muslim involvement), is there any credible evidence pointing against Christian perpetration in the libraries final destruction? ---
**Author:** ![Pepsi\_Classic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pepsi\_Classic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pepsi_Classic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/22 "2004-01-09T01:59:42Z")
> [@](#): > > The good news is that the page was created by an elementary school student named James. > > The bad news is that James’s teacher must have okayed the math and history found therein Maybe James is from the future and his math is correct. Did you think of that? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/23 "2004-01-09T01:59:44Z")
I have not cross-checked the sources, yet, but the Bede’s Library site has an interesting [history of the burning(s) of the Royal Library at Alexandria](http://www.bede.org.uk/library.htm). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/24 "2004-01-09T02:13:34Z")
It’s _never_ going to end, is it. :smack: Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Ennui](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ennui/32/3396_2.png) [@Ennui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ennui)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/25 "2004-01-09T02:23:58Z")
[Continuing and hopefully ending current hijack] **tomndebb** , it’s interesting that the Bede site you mentioned was offered as a dissenting, albeit “Christian apologist” view from the site I consulted, [Wikipidia](http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria). I wont argue relative veracity of respective cites but I will mention that given the location you post under, if we did argue it perhaps could take place via local phone call (anything to avoid a continued hijack). ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/26 "2004-01-09T03:03:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*There seems to be a determined effort in Afrocentric circles to present Ancient Egyptians as negroid. Cleopatra, descended from a long line of Macedonians in the wake of Alexander the Great, is particularly misappropriated for this task. You can see from the occasional representation of negroid Africans (“Nubians”) in Egyptian art that Egyptians saw themselves in distinct contrast to them. \*\* When I saw the Pharaohs of the Sun exhibit at the art institute, I was struck how much Akhenaten looked familiar. As I am not a sprots fan it took a bit for me ti place his face. There is a strong similarity between the sculpture of him and Scottie Pippen, except the eyes, whick looked more like Brandy’s. It doesn’t take a determined effort to see Akhenaten as negroid. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/27 "2004-01-09T08:09:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anal Scurvy \* > **From my recent studies of Islamic history, I’m pretty confident that it was destroyed by a Muslim around the twelfth or thirteenth century.** Pish-tosh! Everyone knows it was knocked off in 50 B.C. by Obelix, on a visit to Egypt to help Cleopatra win a bet against Julius Caesar, and… Um, but seriously, is there any reason to blame anybody but our old friend, Erosion? You can [read a bit more here](http://home.xnet.com/~warinner/sphinx.html) and vote for your favorite Sphinx Denasaling Villain too! ---
**Author:** ![Ludicrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Ludicrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludicrous)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/28 "2004-01-09T09:00:54Z")
I remember visiting the Petra ruins at Jordan. Above the temple entrance there is a carved vase that’s crumbling and missing chunks of sandstone. The tour guide stated that Napolean and his troops were in the area at one point in time. It was rumored that the vase was filled with gold and jewels, so the troops shot it in hopes of releasing the hidden treasure that was never there. Seems Naploean’s blamed for destroying ancient ruins all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/29 "2004-01-09T12:47:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Um, but seriously, is there any reason to blame anybody but our old friend, Erosion? I was just about to mention erosion. Let’s face it (no pun intended): The Sphinx’s nose was a large, unsupported overhang of stone. Structurally, there can be no doubt that it would break off eventually. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/30 "2004-01-09T13:09:37Z")
**Ennui** , the point was that sometimes a story that seems to have some face-value(sorry!) historical plausibility, subject to verification, will be vectored forward as proven fact by latter-day comentators w/o said verification, based on how well it fits their perceptions or the point they wish to make. (BTW the parallel issue HAS been raised here in the SDMB in the past a few times, you may want to do a search to see what was commented.) ---
**Author:** ![chattywine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@chattywine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chattywine)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/31 "2004-01-09T13:18:36Z")
And all this time I’d thought someone had just beeped it too hard. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/32 "2004-01-09T13:30:35Z")
I have always believed this too (up to reading this thread in fact). It’s one of those things that “everybody knows”. I have checked with my (also white British) colleagues and those who thought they knew all blamed Napoleon. This leads me to suggest that it may be British anti-Boney propaganda (there was a fair bit of this about in the early 1800s). Perhaps the emigrants/immigrants (depending on where you live) took it to the New World with them? The Sphynx’s beard is in a store room in the British Museum. This is not a myth. I’ve personally seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/33 "2004-01-09T16:00:33Z")
I majored in history, and I always believed that Napoleon’s troops were the guilty ones. Never heard anything to the contrary, in fact, until I started reading this thread. And I’m as Heinz-57 mongrel European as they come. It certainly doesn’t surprise me, though, that the Afrocentrists, who are always looking for more “evidence” to support their conspiracy theory point of view, would latch onto this story and ascribe racial motivations to the alleged perpetrators. It’s pretty typical of their style, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/34 "2004-01-09T19:10:50Z")
So, what? I’m the only mis-informed person who was firmly convince that it was Turkish troops who shot the nose off of the Sphinx? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/35 "2004-01-09T19:26:12Z")
Rats, and I was all set to use the pejorative “cheese-eating, _Sphinx-de-rhinofacading_, surrender-monkeys” in everyday conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/36 "2004-01-09T20:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mort Furd \* > \*\*So, what? I’m the only mis-informed person who was firmly convince that it was Turkish troops who shot the nose off of the Sphinx? \*\* Perhaps your Turkish troops used [bullets made from lead extracted from the Parthenon](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=223404), thus maximizing their monument-destroying efficiency! 😃 Insert joke about “killing two stones with one bird(shot)” here. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/37 "2004-01-09T21:35:02Z")
When the Sphinx was little, his daddy pulled the old “Got your nose!” trick on him and never gave it back. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/38 "2004-01-09T21:41:46Z")
\ Just inserting a line about Michael Jackson. Somewhere there is a tie-in with this thread. \ Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/39 "2004-01-09T21:57:10Z")
I’ve always heard Napolean’s troops shot off the Sphinx’s nose until this thread said otherwise, and I’m whiter’n a snowman’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448/40 "2004-01-09T22:27:19Z")
Am I the only one who never even heard of the “Napoleon did it!” story until I saw a column about it here at the SD? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-black-people-think-napoleon-shot-off-the-sphinxs-nose/223448.md?page=3)