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The Great Sphinx is guarding the Pyramids of Giza, but some egyptologists thinks it was sculpted before the pyramids were built. If so, what was the enormous stone lion with the haed of a human guard?
Sphinx of Naxos. Of the luxurious Siphnian treasury, another rich island of the Cyclades, Naxos, sends a grandiose offering to Apollo of Delfoi, the statue of the mythical Sphinx. It was seated on the capital of a very tall Ionic column, regarded as the oldest element in the Ionic order at Delfoi.
Pyxis and lid with sphinx-shaped handle
This pyxis (box) was fashioned in imitation of Phoenician luxury goods imported from the Near East. Although it incorporates many Near Eastern elements in its decoration, including sphinxes, a lotus plant, and chariots, the style of the figures shows it is clearly the product of a local Etruscan workshop. The handle of the lid takes the form of a standing sphinx wearing a lotus crown. The 7th and early 6th centuries BC are known as the Orientalizing period because of the many eastern, or “Oriental,” elements in the art. In this prosperous era of international trade, Etruscan artists manufactured luxury goods, such as those seen in this case, that reflect influences from the art of the eastern Mediterranean.
Etruscan (Artist)
PERIOD
650-625 BC (Orientalizing)
MEDIUM
ivory
Met de Sphinx verdwijnt één van de laatste industrieën die nog gevestigd waren in de binnenstad van Maastricht. Daarmee eindigt een eeuwenoude traditie, waarbij de binnenstad alle functies kon verenigen: werken, wonen, tuinbouw, ambachten, recreatie, religie en cultuur. Eeuwen lang vonden in heel de binnenstad ambachtelijke en industriële activiteiten plaats, die plaatselijk voor veel overlast konden zorgen.
Sphinx is watching the Curling again on TV, upside down- for some reason he prefers watching it upside down! Biscuits is playing with a box. Sphinx really loves curling, especially the ladies of Team GB who he was watching here!
The Sphinx is perhaps the most enigmatic of Egypt's monuments, the largest free-standing sculpture of the ancient world, carved from the living rock of the Giza plateau.
The massive figure with a lion's body and a human head is believed to date from the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, owing to the similarity of the head to statues of the king and the fact that the Sphinx also sits beside the causeway connecting Khafre's pyramid to his valley temple. The body has eroded badly over the centuries and the lower parts (including the massive front paws) had been augmented with an outer face of masonry even in ancient times, much of which has undergone restoration in more recent times.
The head wears the traditional nemes head-dress of a king and originally would have been crowned by a ureaus cobra on the forehead and a platted beard on the chin (fragments of which are preserved in museums). The lower parts of the head-dress beside the neck had been lost to wind erosion long ago, leaving the head the rather fragile appearance it has in old drawings and photographs. New masonry was added to reinforce the neck and restore a semblance of the original outline in the early 20th century to save it from further damage.
There is some speculation that the Sphinx could be much earlier owing to its heavily weathered body, Khafre's causeway making its route around the sculpture as if it already existed, and the head being too small for the body, perhaps a sign that it had later been recarved into its current human form. If the Sphinx did have an incarnation then Anubis the jackal god of the necropolis would have been the strongest candidate, with some seeing the body as more canine than feline. Either way, the Sphinx remains the powerful guardian of the Giza Necropolis and its monumental pyramids as he has done for millennia before.
The Giza Pyramids need no introduction, the largest and most famous monuments of antiquity and the sole surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.
Situated on a desert plateau to the south west of Cairo (and indeed on the very edge of the city's modern urban sprawl) the pyramids of Giza form the heart of an extensive ancient necropolis with the monumental tombs of three of Egypt's earliest Old Kingdom pharaohs marked by the vast structures. Each of the pyramids is a colossal mass of near solid masonry, without adornment and with only a few passages within each leading to burial chambers long since emptied and robbed in antiquity.
The earliest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (sometimes referred to by the Greek title 'Cheops', or by his full pharaonic name 'Khnum-Khufu'). It is also the largest; the structure is simply enormous and remained the World's tallest building until well into the Middle Ages.
The following pyramid was built by Khafre (also called 'Khephren') and is similarly vast (often appearing in photos of the whole group as larger due to its more central position) but is significantly smaller than Khufu's monument. The smallest of the three (at around less than half the size) was built by his successor Menkaure. Both his and Khufu's monuments have much smaller satellite pyramids at their base (some in more ruinous condition) to house the tombs of their queens.
Originally all the pyramids had a smooth outer covering of white stone but this was quarried away by later generations (much of which was used for some of Cairo's greatest Islamic monuments) leaving the rough inner blocks exposed. A small section remains at the apex of Khafre's pyramid (suggestive of a snow-capped mountain) to give a sense of the original finish and overall mass.
Today the site remains the most popular in Egypt and an astonishing testament to the skill and determination of it earliest builders.
I was surprised by how small the sphinx is in person. Well, you know, relative to the pyramids and all.
Sphinx Moth (possibly Adhemarius gannascus gannascus) photographed at Rancho Naturalista near Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Twelve-ton, red granite Sphinx of Ramesses II, (19th Dynasty, circa 1293-1185 BCE). It was excavated from the sacred enclosure of the temple of the god Ptah at Memphis, Egypt. The sphinx, a lion with a human head, represents the power of the Egyptian king, both to protect his people and to conquer the enemies of Egypt. This statue was buried up to its shoulders; only the exposed head was attacked by windblown sand, which eroded the facial features and the royal false beard. The inscriptions on the chest and around the base give the five names of Ramesses II. His son and successor, Merenptah, added his own cartouches to the shoulders after his father's death. This sphinx, the third largest known in the world was quarried at Aswan and transported by river to the Ptah Temple at Memphis, 600 miles away.
A sphinx with female face.
The statue do not have any inscription, to whom it belonged.
Greco-Roman Period. From Deir el Hagar Temple, Dakhla.
208 179
Kharga Museum
The Great Sphinx of Giza (or, commonly, the Sphinx) is a statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 metres (241 ft) long, 6 metres (20 ft) wide, and 20.22 m (66.34 ft) high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom in the reign of the pharaoh Khafra (c. 2558–2532 BC).
I really wanted to share some pictures, but it was too dark in the room, and since I did not want to use a flash, which can be very annoying for cats, I decided to take videos instead.
Kiff and I went to a TICA (The International Cat Association) cat show today. We were at the show for a good six hours and mostly hung out watching this woman judge. She had grown up in Argentina, and she is one of the most knowledgeable cat people I've met. I could sit and listen to her for days!
This is a Sphinx cat, which some people think are completely hairless, but they are not! This kitten was wonderful!
Drinking cup (kylix)
Greek, Archaic Period, about 510 B.C.
Skythes
Place of Manufacture: Athens, Attica, Greece
Ceramic, Red Figure
Schwindelrat, Botschafter von Lügenzung
Die Sphinxen waren im Zeitalter der Phantome an der grossen Klippe. Da kamen aber die Phantome hinunter vom heiligen Berg, da die Zeit der Tage und Nächte begonnen hatte. Die Sphinxen aber sprachen: „Der Gott Gedankenfels hat uns gesendet, nach Reinherz zu suchen. Wir können aber diesen Graben nicht überwinden. Was aber seit ihr? Die ihr von der anderen Seite kommt.“ Lügenzung aber sprach, wie immer die halbe Wahrheit und hielt die ein Teil geheim: „Wir kommen vom heiligen Berg. Wir wurden erschaffen vom Allereinzigsten als Herrscher. Und nun sind wir gekommen, um auch über das Sichtreich zu herrschen.“ Die Sphinxen aber erkannten nicht, dass sie Verbannte waren und begrüssten sie als ihre Herren. Seither sind die Monde am Himmel des Nachts sichtbar. Der jüngste unter den Sphinxen aber kam zu Lügenzung und sprach: „zu verblendet sind meine Geschwister und auch meine Lehrer, dass sie nicht erkannten, dass du dir mit Unwahrheit Recht auf Macht genommen hast. Ich aber erkannte die Lüge in deiner Zunge.“ Da lachte Lügenzung und sprach: „Auch ich habe gesehen, dass du nicht Reinherz suchst sondern deine eigene Wahrheit. So lass mich dir jene Zeigen.“ Und so kam es, dass Lügenzung ihm sein Wissen gab und er erzählte ihm die Lüge des Botschafters:
quirill.ch/wiki/wiki/Schattenspiel#Schwindelrat.2C_Botsch...