A
Sphinx is an iconic image of a recumbent
lion with a human head, invented by the
Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, but a cultural
import in archaic Greek mythology, where
it received its name (Greek, "strangler").
The best known is the Great Sphinx of
Giza. The Egyptian sphinx is an ancient
iconic mythical creature usually comprised
of a recumbent lion – an animal
with sacred solar associations –
with a human head, usually that of a pharaoh.
The largest and most famous is the Great
Sphinx of Giza , sited on the Giza Plateau
on the west bank of the Nile River, facing
due east, with a small temple between
its paws. The face of the Great Sphinx
is believed to be the head of the pharaoh
Khafra (often known by the Hellenised
version of his name, Chephren), which
would date its construction to the Fourth
Dynasty (2723 BC – 2563 BC). However,
there are some alternative theories that
re-date the Sphinx to pre-Old Kingdom
– and, according to one hypothesis,
to prehistoric – times.
Other
famous Egyptian sphinxes include the alabaster
sphinx of Memphis, currently located within
the open-air museum at that site; and
the ram-headed sphinxes (criosphinxes),
representing the god Amun, that line either
side of the three-kilometer route linking
the complexes of Luxor Temple and Karnak
in Luxor (ancient Thebes), of which there
were originally some nine hundred. What
names ancient Egyptians called the statues
is unknown. The Arabic name of the Great
Sphinx, Abu al-Hôl, translates as
"Father of Terror". The Greek
name "Sphinx" was applied to
it in Antiquity though it has the head
of a man, not a woman. There was a single
Sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon
of destruction and bad luck, according
to Hesiod a daughter of the Chimaera and
Orthrus, or, according to others, of Typhon
and Echidna— all of these chthonic
figures.
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