An Ivory Sphinx from Nimrud

Herrmann talks about ivory sphinx from Nimrud. A hieraco-sphinx--a creature with a falcon's head and lion's body that could represent the fearsome strength of the Pharaoh-crouches and raises its human arms, palms outward; its head is crowned by the solar disc with encircling uraeus cobra t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inExpedition Vol. 64; no. 3; p. 55
Main Author Herrmann, Virginia R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania, University Museum 01.12.2023
Subjects
Design
Historic artifacts
Ivory
Nimrud
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Summary:Herrmann talks about ivory sphinx from Nimrud. A hieraco-sphinx--a creature with a falcon's head and lion's body that could represent the fearsome strength of the Pharaoh-crouches and raises its human arms, palms outward; its head is crowned by the solar disc with encircling uraeus cobra that symbolizes the sun-god Re, and it wears the pharaoh's nemes headcloth. Like the sphinx panel, many of the ivories found at Nimrud bear motifs of Egyptian derivation, like the god Horus seated on a lotus, the eye of Horus, or a winged scarab, with only details of style and iconography giving away their non-Egyptian manufacture. The designer of the Nimrud panels has more thoroughly Egyptianized the scene by flanking the tree with Egyptian-style male human-, ram-, and falcon-headed sphinxes wearing the paraphernalia of the Egyptian king. In one case, the tree is turned into the classically Egyptian papyrus, but the sphinxes raise their wings in Near Eastern style.
ISSN:0014-4738