Ram-Headed Sphinx Discovered in Egypt
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
LUND, SWEDEN—Live Science reports that a 3,300-year-old criosphinx, a sphinx with a ram’s head, was uncovered at Gebel el-Silsila, a quarry site located near Aswan on the banks of the Nile River. Archaeologist Maria Nilsson of Lund University thinks the massive statue, found in a pit of stone debris, may have been ordered by Pharaoh Amenhotep III and later canceled or perhaps abandoned after his death, around 1350 B.C. The team members also discovered a uraeus, a carving of a coiled-up cobra, thought to have rested on the sphinx’s head as a symbol of royalty. A small sphinx, iron shavings from chisels, and sandstone chips were also recovered from the site. To read in-depth about excavations at Egypts City of the Sun, Heliopolis, go to “Egypt's Eternal City.”
Advertisement
Panama’s golden grave, Viking dental exams, an unusual papyrus preservative, playing games in ancient Kenya, and a venerable Venetian church
Within a knight’s grasp
Advertisement
Advertisement