DOI Page / Citation link:
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116
APPENDIX.
The oldest representation of a sphinx, which Mr. Birch had met with,
is on amulets belonging to the times of Thothmes IV., who is represented
on the erect obelisk at Karnak under this form offering to Re, and of
his successors.4
According to Pliny, the Sphinx at Gizeh was the tomb of Amasis, the
founder probably of the eighteenth dynasty, and the form of the head-
dress, and the remains of the features of the image, seem to indicate,
that it was constructed under the eighteenth, or Diospolitan dynasty;
and the inscriptions in question appear to assign to it as high an
antiquity.
In this tablet the Sphinx is identified with the sun under the appel-
lation of Horus, or the god of the solar abode. In royal cartouches a
sphinx signifies, "a lord" or "master,"* and it is called in hieroglyphics
" okr."6 The Greeks imagined that it represented intellect, or strength,
but they seem to have alluded to the sphinx of Thebes in Boeotia,' and
not to those in Egypt, which usually personified distinguished monarchs,
as has been proved by two inscriptions, connected with Amenoph III.8
(or Memnon), which have been already published.
The figure of a lion appears to have been connected with the sun,
because his name "Moid" signified splendour, wisdom, intellect, &c,
and one of these animals, indeed, appears to have accompanied dis-
tinguished Egyptian kings in their conquests ; who, from their heroic
exploits, were often mentioned, as a lion among inferior animals. Amu-
lets, and scaraba;i have been often inscribed with the names of Egyptian
kings, who are in the form of a sphinx, and in the act of treading
under foot Asiatic, or Negro prisoners. The Sphinx, at Gizeh therefore
probably represented, under the character of the sun, the monarch
by whose orders the image was constructed ; and it was afterwards
worshipped in consequence of the superstitious observances, which gave
rise to the deification of departed kings, to whose service priests of
different orders were dedicated, and whose glory was compared to the
noonday effulgence of the sun.
4 Amulet, British Museum, case BBB., 2. On a fragment of a coffin
Amenophis I. is personified as a sphinx, the Queen Mauthem occurs at
Turin. Ch. Lett. a. M. le Due de Blacas. PI. I. Alexander is found under
this type. Rosel. M. da C. 156, and one of the Ptolemies. Ibid. M. R.
5 It is used for the syllable Neb in the name Nasht7ieM or Nakhtneif
Memphitice. Cf. Rosel. Mon. Hor. T. 11. Tav. XIV. 156 b., 156 c. Necta-
nebo also offers the emblem, Rosel. M. R. cliv.
6 Ch. Gr. Eg. 463. This perhaps meant victory, as Neith-okr, the vic-
torious Neith.
8 D'Athanasi, Giov. Researches and Discoveries in Upper Egypt. Svo.
London, 1836. Frontispiece. Burton, Jas. Exc. Hier. PI. LXI.
APPENDIX.
The oldest representation of a sphinx, which Mr. Birch had met with,
is on amulets belonging to the times of Thothmes IV., who is represented
on the erect obelisk at Karnak under this form offering to Re, and of
his successors.4
According to Pliny, the Sphinx at Gizeh was the tomb of Amasis, the
founder probably of the eighteenth dynasty, and the form of the head-
dress, and the remains of the features of the image, seem to indicate,
that it was constructed under the eighteenth, or Diospolitan dynasty;
and the inscriptions in question appear to assign to it as high an
antiquity.
In this tablet the Sphinx is identified with the sun under the appel-
lation of Horus, or the god of the solar abode. In royal cartouches a
sphinx signifies, "a lord" or "master,"* and it is called in hieroglyphics
" okr."6 The Greeks imagined that it represented intellect, or strength,
but they seem to have alluded to the sphinx of Thebes in Boeotia,' and
not to those in Egypt, which usually personified distinguished monarchs,
as has been proved by two inscriptions, connected with Amenoph III.8
(or Memnon), which have been already published.
The figure of a lion appears to have been connected with the sun,
because his name "Moid" signified splendour, wisdom, intellect, &c,
and one of these animals, indeed, appears to have accompanied dis-
tinguished Egyptian kings in their conquests ; who, from their heroic
exploits, were often mentioned, as a lion among inferior animals. Amu-
lets, and scaraba;i have been often inscribed with the names of Egyptian
kings, who are in the form of a sphinx, and in the act of treading
under foot Asiatic, or Negro prisoners. The Sphinx, at Gizeh therefore
probably represented, under the character of the sun, the monarch
by whose orders the image was constructed ; and it was afterwards
worshipped in consequence of the superstitious observances, which gave
rise to the deification of departed kings, to whose service priests of
different orders were dedicated, and whose glory was compared to the
noonday effulgence of the sun.
4 Amulet, British Museum, case BBB., 2. On a fragment of a coffin
Amenophis I. is personified as a sphinx, the Queen Mauthem occurs at
Turin. Ch. Lett. a. M. le Due de Blacas. PI. I. Alexander is found under
this type. Rosel. M. da C. 156, and one of the Ptolemies. Ibid. M. R.
5 It is used for the syllable Neb in the name Nasht7ieM or Nakhtneif
Memphitice. Cf. Rosel. Mon. Hor. T. 11. Tav. XIV. 156 b., 156 c. Necta-
nebo also offers the emblem, Rosel. M. R. cliv.
6 Ch. Gr. Eg. 463. This perhaps meant victory, as Neith-okr, the vic-
torious Neith.
8 D'Athanasi, Giov. Researches and Discoveries in Upper Egypt. Svo.
London, 1836. Frontispiece. Burton, Jas. Exc. Hier. PI. LXI.