Search Results: Sphinx

A sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion, most often with a human head and sometimes with wings. The creature was an Egyptian invention and had a male head - human or animal; however, in Greek mythology, the creature had the...

The Great Sphinx of Giza is the most instantly recognizable statue associated with ancient Egypt and among the most famous in the world. The sculpture, of a recumbent lion with the head of an Egyptian king, was carved out of limestone on...

Sphinx from a mausoleum at Arausio, (Orange, France), 1st century BCE. Archaeological Museum of Orange.

Buried for most of its life in the desert sand, an air of mystery has always surrounded the Great Sphinx, causing speculation about its age and purpose, method of construction, concealed chambers, role in prophecy, and relationship to the...

The Sphinx Gate in Hattusa (the capital of the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age) was part of the city's fortifications. All four door jambs of the gate bore representations of Sphinxes. Only one original Sphinx is still in place while...

Sphinx of Hatshepsut (ca. 1479–1458 BCE). This colossal sphinx portrays the female pharaoh Hatshepsut with the body of a lion and a human head wearing a nemes–headcloth and false beard. The sculptor has carefully observed the powerful muscles...

The Sphinx Gate at Alacahöyük (the site of a Neolithic and Hittite settlement in central Turkey) was built in the 14th century BCE. It was the south entrance of the city and was fortified with towers. It was flanked by sphinx protomes sculpted...

A view of a part of the Giza monuments : the sphinx and the Kephren pyramid

This limestone and plaster piece depicts the female pharaoh Maatkare Hatshepsut as a sphinx. She has the body and mane of a lion, with the head of a human. Carved between the paws of the statue is a cartouche enclosing the pharaoh's throne...

Sphinx in black granite; from Tanis. Drawn by G. Bénédite. From A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II by Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez (1883).