Image: public domain, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Sphinx of Hatshepsut

Ancient Egypt, c. 1473–1458 BC

This sphinx has the body of a lion and the face of Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh. It was smashed in ancient times, and archaeologists rebuilt it from thousands of pieces, just like a puzzle.

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Did you know?

It was one of at least six granite sphinxes that stood at Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri, near Thebes.
It weighs about 6.7 tonnes and is about 3.4 metres long.
Look for the royal striped headcloth and the false beard, signs of a pharaoh, even though Hatshepsut was a woman.
Look at the tail curled around a back leg: it is a bull’s tail, part of a pharaoh’s royal dress.
After her death, King Thutmose III had her statues taken down and broken, and the pieces were dumped in a quarry.
The Met’s own archaeologists dug the pieces out of that quarry in 1926–28.

About this culture

Ancient Egyptian art flourished along the Nile for about three thousand years, from around 3100 BC until Egypt became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC.

It is famous for pyramids and temples, majestic statues of pharaohs and sphinxes, and colorful tomb paintings of everyday life.

The artists rarely signed their work, yet they cherished small joys too, like the little blue faience hippo that visitors to the Met fondly call “William”.

Ancient Egypt ›

Where it is today: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Museum page