Early illustrations often depicted the Great Sphinx without a body and sometimes with feminine features.

In 1653 François La Boullaye-Le-Gouz published his description of the Great Sphinx, stating that it was also known as Ablehon.  Despite the feminine illustration, the accompanying text consistently refers to the Sphinx as male, stating:

"This figure, called Ablehon by the Turks and the Sphinx by the Europeans, is carved out of the rock...[possibly]the representation of the very king who built the great pyramid, or perhaps of some emperor of Libya who extended his conquests into Egypt....it is said that the ancient Egyptians honoured it as a god, because the Sphinx was believed to be an animal born of a lion and a virgin.  Their sages had discovered this divinity because the Nile overflows its banks and fertilizes Egypt when the Sun passes from the sign of the Lion to that of the Virgin."

Source:  Les voyages et obseruations du Sieur de La Boullaye-Le-Gouz, gentil-homme angeuin (1653)-François La Boullaye-Le-Gouz