Sphinx

A Sphinx (for the archaic spelling Sphynx, revived for a breed of cat and other uses, see below) 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").

Egyptian sphinx

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, which is 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 the head of the pharaoh Khafre (often known by the Hellenised version of his name, Chephren), which would date its construction to the Fourth Dynasty (2723 BCE – 2563 BCE).

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, representing the god Amun, that line either side of the three kilometre route linking the complexes of Luxor Temple and Karnak in Luxor (ancient Thebes), of which there were originally some nine hundred.