Monday 15 August 2011

Cairo Museum Hatshepsut Sphinx


Cairo Museum 008
Originally uploaded by random field notes


In a similar way to the Hatshepsut statue at Karnak which i posted recently- this sphinx tells us all we need to know (of its origination) by the damage we see.

Again the beard and nose have been attacked, as has the uraeus on its forehead. Hatshepsut originally commissioned this sphinx and it was re-used/ inscribed by Thutmose III.

As this piece is located at the front of the Egyptian Museum, this photograph does not fall under the same rules as the indoor artifacts (photography ban).

One of three sphinxes in Cairo (actually these are the only three "intact" sphinxes I've located- there is also a sphinx head). These will provisionally be noted in the Hatshepsut Database as Sphinx A,B,C and D.

Other Hatshepsut Sphinxes can been seen today in Berlin, Metropolitan Museum (MMA)  and at Deir el Bahri.

Regards,
Stuart

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