Sphinx

The Great Sphinx at Gîza, Egypt. Dating to the 3rd millennium BC, the Great Sphinx consists of the body of a lion and the head of a king or god – a legendary creature that symbolized strength and wisdom. It is carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau and stands 58 m/189 ft in height. The monument has been buried by sand over the centuries and repeatedly dug out.

Mythological creature, depicted in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek art as a lion with a human head. The Greek Sphinx of Thebes was winged with a woman's breasts, and was adopted as an emblem of wisdom. She killed all those who failed to answer her riddle about which animal went on four, then two, and finally three legs: the answer being humanity (baby, adult, and old person with stick). When Oedipus gave the right reply, she committed suicide.

Representation One of the oldest monuments is the Great Sphinx at El Gîza, Egypt, 58 m/189 ft high, which was probably built about 2900–2750 BC. It is believed to represent King Khafre with the body of a recumbent lion, guarding the royal cemetery and mortuary temples. Subsequently it was imitated on a smaller scale, and avenues of sphinxes frequently flanked the approaches to temples. The Great Sphinx has been buried by sand and dug out on a number of occasions; one such event is recorded by an 18th dynasty inscription.

Another example of an early sphinx is that of King Pepi I, hewn out of red granite, and now on display in the Louvre, Paris. In certain Egyptian religious art, the king as sphinx is shown making offerings to deities or tearing his enemies to pieces.

From Egypt, the concept of the sphinx spread to Assyria and Phoenicia, its figure being commonly found on Persian gems, and also to Greece.