Sphinx statue
Sphinx drawing
Where was the sphinx of hatshepsut found...
| Reconstruction of queen Tiye as a sphinx from her throne in the tomb of Kheruef, Thebes (I took a bit of licence here). Image by Andrea Sinclair. |
It stands to reason that I do not have to introduce the Egyptian sphinx to you. It must be one of the most well known symbols of ancient Egypt, with the enormous limestone sphinx at Giza standing as pinup boy for the entire species. Therefore, I assume you know that the average Egyptian sphinx is an hybrid creature with the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh. And the pharaoh is male.
That’s more or less the party line, right?
The living image of the sun god
So, this piece is going to mess a bit with that, because in ancient Egypt a ‘sphinx’ was not always a lion, nor was it always male.
At a stretch, and if you are flexible about classifications, it can sometimes have a completely different head (ram – criosphinx, hawk – hieracosphinx, Set anima