The Great Sphinx of Giza, one of the most famous monuments of Pharaonic Egypt, is to get a facelift, the Egyptian ministry of culture said.

Restoration work on the noseless creature undertaken by the High Council for Antiquities is to focus on the beast's neck and chest, rendered fragile by the erosion of desert winds.

Egyptian antiquities boss Zahi Hawas said the last restoration work on the half-man half-lion statue was carried out in 1996.

The face of the 73-metre long and 20-metre high Sphinx, believed to have been built 5,000 years ago, is thought to be modelled on the Pharaoh Khepren and wears a royal headdress.