EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally ran Oct. 13, 2025.

The Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt faces east, toward the rising sun—a symbolic alignment tied to ancient sun worship and rebirth. Its famous modern Las Vegas replica, the Luxor Sphinx in Las Vegas, faces west, toward the Strip and away from the sunrise.

Social media blogs and vlogs, and guided ghost tours of Las Vegas, have for decades made this claim, blaming this solar misalignment for a string of unfortunate events that have occurred at the property.

“The sphinx was built facing the incorrect direction,” a video posted by the “Buzzed Vegas” Facebook page informed its 151K followers just last week, “so a lot of people think the Egyptian gods are upset about it.”

The design of the Luxor was part of then-owner Circus Circus Enterprises’ broader strategy to expand its portfolio of themed resorts to attract families following the success of its Excalibur (opened 1990) and preceding its Mandalay Bay (opened 1999).

The company purchased the land in early 1992, already knowing they would build a massive Egyptian-themed resort with a pyramid-shaped hotel and a Nile River ride tracing the pyramid’s perimeter. (The latter element was dismantled in 1996, three years after the resort opened — not, as the “Buzzed Vegas” video claims, “because of so many apparitions” and “so many creepy things on there” but because of low ridership and operational inefficiencies that disrupted guest flow.)

The replica Great Sphinx of Giza wasn’t initially part of the plan until later iterations. Its alignment was chosen for maximum exposure to traffic on the Las Vegas Strip. (Nobody would see it if it faced away from the Strip, and only half as many people would if it faced entirely north or south, the directions in which traffic flows on Las Vegas Boulevard.)

It can be safely assumed that no consideration was given to pointing it in the “correct” direction to appease ancient gods.