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Scarab with a Sphinx and Hieroglyphs

Third Intermediate Period
ca. 1080–664 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130
A recumbent sphinx –a mythological creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man– faces right. He wears the nemes head cloth with an aroused cobra on its front. The sphinx –like the horse or the bull– is one of the animals that symbolizes the king. He holds the sign for praise (hes) on his front paws. This combination praises the king as the sun god on earth, as specified by the sun disk above the sphinx’s back. An altar with offering is placed below, between a pair of hieroglyphs for good and beautiful (nefer). The composition probably expresses praise bestowed upon the king and the sun god.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Scarab with a Sphinx and Hieroglyphs
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 21–25
  • Date: ca. 1080–664 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Faience
  • Dimensions: L. 1.8 cm (11/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
  • Object Number: 30.8.1016
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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