Cleveland Museum of Art

Sphinxes with a Human Head and with a Ram Head at Point Y. Karnak (Thebes)

Date

1851–52

Medium

salted paper print from calotype negative

Culture

France, 19th century

Department

Photography

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The monumental sphinx at Giza, which has the head of a man and the body of a lion, is one of the most iconic symbols of ancient Egypt. The country contains other, humbler versions of this mythical creature. The one here with the head of a ram is only nine feet long and held a statue of a human between its paws.

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