Senwosret III as a Sphinx

Ancient Egyptian This sphinx portrays Pharaoh Senwosret III of Dynasty 12, carved from a single block of anorthosite gneiss quarried in Nubia. It dates to roughly 1878-1840 BCE. The stone's distinctive dark grain sets it apart from the more common limestone and granite Egyptian sculptures.

Unlike Old Kingdom sphinxes with serene, idealized faces, this one shows individualized, almost careworn features: heavy-lidded eyes and a downturned mouth. Senwosret III was one of the greatest pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom, and his portraits mark a shift toward realism in royal sculpture. The sphinx combines his face with the body of a lion, a pairing that symbolized the king's power merged with leonine strength.

It weighs 114 kg (252 pounds) and may have originally stood at Karnak in Upper Egypt. It's on view in Gallery 111 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.