Editing Sphinx (section)

== Egypt ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Great Sphinx of Giza]] -->
[[file:Sphinx.svg|thumb|A modern drawing of a Sphinx based on ancient sources]]
[[File:Great Sphinx of Giza - 20080716a.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Sphinx of Giza]], with the [[Great Pyramid of Giza|Great Pyramid]] in the background]]
[[File:Louvre-antiquites-egyptiennes-p1020361-gradient.jpg|thumbnail|"A lion-headed goddess is a lion-goddess in human form, while a royal sphinx, conversely, is a man who has assumed the form of a lion." [[Henry George Fischer]]<ref name="Wilkinson 2003 p.">{{cite book | last=Wilkinson | first=Richard H. | title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt | publisher=Thames & Hudson | publication-place=London | date=2003 | isbn=978-0-500-05120-7 | page=28}}</ref><ref>Photo: Great Sphinx before clearance, Brooklyn Museum Archives</ref>]]

The largest and most famous sphinx is the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]], situated on the [[Giza]] Plateau adjacent to the [[Great Pyramids of Giza]] on the west bank of the [[Nile River]] and facing east ({{coord|29|58|31|N|31|08|15|E|}}). The sphinx is located southeast of the pyramids. While the date of its construction is not known for certain, the general consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx bears the likeness of the pharaoh [[Khafre]], dating it to between 2600 and 2500 BC. However, a fringe minority of late 20th century geologists have claimed evidence of water erosion in and around the Sphinx enclosure which would prove that the Sphinx predates Khafre, at around 10,000 to 5000 BC, a claim that is sometimes referred to as the [[Sphinx water erosion hypothesis]] but which has little support among Egyptologists and contradicts other evidence.<ref>Brian Dunning (2019). [https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4693] ''Skeptoid Podcast'', episode 693 'The Age of the Sphinx'</ref>

What names their builders gave to these [[statue]]s is unknown. At the Great Sphinx site, a 1400 BC inscription on a [[stele]] belonging to the [[18th dynasty]] pharaoh [[Thutmose IV]] lists the names of three aspects of the local sun [[ancient Egyptian deities|deity]] of that period, ''[[Khepera]]–[[Rê]]–[[Atum]]''. Many pharaohs had their heads carved atop the guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful solar deity [[Sekhmet]], a lioness. Besides the Great Sphinx, other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaoh [[Hatshepsut]], with her likeness carved in [[granite]], which is now in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York, and the [[alabaster]] [[Sphinx of Memphis]], currently located within the open-air museum at that site. The theme was expanded to form great [[Avenue (landscape)|avenues]] of guardian sphinxes lining the approaches to tombs and temples as well as serving as details atop the posts of flights of stairs to very grand complexes. Nine hundred sphinxes with ram heads (Criosphinxes), believed to represent [[Amun|Amon]], were built in [[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]], where his cult was strongest. At Karnak, each Criosphinx is fronted by a full-length statue of the pharaoh. The task of these sphinxes was to hold back the forces of evil.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Strudwick|first=Helen|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4351-4654-9|location=New York|pages=254–255}}</ref>

The Great Sphinx has become an emblem of Egypt, frequently appearing on its stamps, coins, and official documents.<ref>Regier, Willis Goth. ''Book of the Sphinx'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004), 54, 59, 177.</ref>

In March 2023, a limestone sphinx was discovered at the [[Dendera Temple complex|Dendera Temple Complex]]. This sphinx, which is depicted with a slight grin and dimples, is thought to be made in the image of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] emperor [[Claudius]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuta |first=Sarah |date=8 March 2023 |title=Smiling Sphinx Statue Unearted in Egypt |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-egypt-unearth-small-sphinx-statue-180981770/#:~:text=Archaeologists%20have%20discovered%20a%20small,River%20in%20the%20Qena%20province. |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>