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A mythological composite creature that first
appeared during the 4th Dynasty, the sphinx is
one of the most iconic compositions in Ancient
Egyptian art. Featuring the body of a recumbent
lion and the head of a king, sphinxes symbolize
royal strength. Here, the sphinx reclines along a
high rectangular base with its forepaws extended
forward and its tail curled around the right flank,
as was the customary stance of this creature.
The head of the king is carefully rendered,
wearing a wide beard and a cloth nemes
headdress (the same type immortalized in the
mask of Tutankhamun) complete with a uraeus
cobra present just above the forehead. The
headdress has been drawn together in the back
to form a queue, also called a pigtail. While this
sphinx appears to be a classic Egyptian
sculpture, it was actually carved by their
neighbors directly to the south, the Nubians,
who inhabited the modern day regions of
southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
The Nubian and the Egyptian civilizations had
close ties dating back as early as 3000 B.C. and
the Egyptians prized the commodities of ivory,
ebony, and gold that came from this land.
Naturally, the Nubians were highly influenced by
the civilization of their powerful neighbors, who
dominated their land for multiple intervals of
time during their lengthy histories. There is even
a distinctive Nubian script known as Meroitic
based on Egyptian hieroglyphs that came into
use during the 2nd Century B.C., around the
same time that this sculpture was carved. In
Nubian history, the Meroitic Period corresponds
to the time when the royal burial sites were first
shifted from the northern city of Nuri south to
the city of Meroe for reasons unbeknownst to us.
The Hellenization of Egypt had a profound
impact on the arts during the Meroitic Period;
however, traditional Egyptian elements were still
employed for religious and funerary works,
implying that this sphinx may have once stood
guard outside a temple or may have been
commissioned specifically for burial alongside a
deceased king.
For a Related Example in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Please See: Steffen Wenig, Africa in
Antiquity: The Arts of Ancient Nubia and the
Sudan, Vol. II. Brooklyn, 1978. no. 150, p. 226.
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