Origin
The Ancient World : Egypt : Old Kingdom : III-VI Dynasty
Description
a) Great Sphinx of Giza; recumbent lion with human head with features
of Chephren (Khafre), wearing royal headdress (nemes), erect uraeus
on forehead, false ceremonial beard (now largely missing) on chin; sphinx
much eroded, repaired in ancient times by addition of limestone blocks
(here visible on forelegs and paws of lion); possibly originally gessoed
and painted; between outstretched paws, top of stele of Thutmose IV
(Dynasty XVIII) visible; b) view from front/side looking up at Sphinx.
The sphinx is one of the most pluralistic of Egyptian symbols. In it,
god, god-king, animal and sun cult are merged into a single representation.
Giedion. The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the earliest examples of
this hybrid. [-Hassan.]
Although the Greeks may have adopted the idea of the sphinx from Egypt
perhaps indirectly by way of Syria, the composite which they developed
differed widely from its Egyptian counterpart both in form and in attributes.
[-Edwards.] The Egyptian sphinx was considered a male deity; its head
was that of the king or a male god. The Greek sphinx was feminine with
a woman's head and breasts.
In Egyptian mythology, the lion, because of its strength, courage and
ferocity, often figures as a guardian, especially of sacred places.
[-Hassan.] Like so many other primeval beliefs, this concept was incorporated
by the priests of Heliopolis into the solar creed, the lion being considered
the guardian of the gates of the underworld at the eastern and western
horizon. In the form of a sphinx, the lion retained the function of
a sentinel and was given in addition human features of the sun god.
The Heliopolitan sun cult proposed that the king himself, after his
death, actually became the sun god Re. Thus the head of the sphinx was
sculpted with the features of the king. (Egyptian deities were traditionally
'made in the image' of the reigning monarch or his queen.) The Great
Sphinx would therefore represent Chephren as the sun god Re acting as
the guardian of the Giza necropolis. [-Edwards.]
The Great Sphinx and its temple which lies before it were undoubtedly
built by Chephren in association with his pyramid complex (see 2Ad.036c
and 2Ad.041). The temple (not pictured here) is the oldest known temple
dedicated to a deity other than the king, per se. All the important
features of its construction were duplicated in order to demonstrate
architectually the principle of duality which characterized Egyptian
religious and philosophical thought. The temple itself has no physical
connection with the Sphinx, perhaps because the Sphinx was regarded
as so holy that approach to it was forbidden. [-Hassan.]
In the New Kingdom, the Sphinx was regarded as an embodiment of the
sun god Harmachis. It was venerated by Egyptians of all social classes
from the lowly administrative official (who set up a small crude votive
stele before it) to the royal prince, later Thutmose IV (Dynasty XVIII),
who dreamed in its shade and to whom the Sphinx granted the kingship
of the Two Lands in return for a favor. (The entire episode is recorded
upon a large red granite stele erected by the king between the Sphinx's
paws where it still stands today.) The worship of the Sphinx continued
through Ptolemaic and Roman times, when the Sphinx was repaired by the
insertion of small limestone blocks in the eroded parts of its body.
The Egyptian epithet for the Great Sphinx was shesep-ankh living image.
Additional Information
The severe damage to the face of the Sphinx was inflicted during the
Moslem iconoclastic disturbances ca. A.D. 1380.
Archetypes in this image
Animal, Magic or Sacred Chephren Deification, of King, Egyptian Entrance
to Underworld Entrance, Door or Gate Guardian Giza, Sphinx and Pyramids
Khaefre, Pyramid of King and God King or Chief Lion God or Man Lion
Guardian Lion, God or Man, Sphinx, Egyptian Pyramid, at Giza Re, King
Son of Re-horus Sphinx, at Giza Sphinx, Masculine Sun God or Man
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