Where Is Senwosret III as a Sphinx? Museum Location

Q: How old is this sphinx?

About 3,900 years old, dating to ca. 1878-1840 BCE during Egypt's Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12. It was a gift of Edward S. Harkness to the Met in 1917 and possibly came from Karnak in Upper Egypt.

Q: What stone is it carved from?

Anorthosite gneiss, a hard, beautifully grained stone quarried in Nubia. It's darker and more distinctive than the typical limestone or granite used for most Egyptian sculpture. The entire sphinx was carved from a single block.

Q: Where can I see it?

It's in Gallery 111 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in the Egyptian Art wing. It weighs 114 kg (252 pounds) and measures 73 cm (29 inches) long.

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.

About 3,900 years old, dating to ca. 1878-1840 BCE during Egypt's Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12. It was a gift of Edward S. Harkness to the Met in 1917 and possibly came from Karnak in Upper Egypt.

Anorthosite gneiss, a hard, beautifully grained stone quarried in Nubia. It's darker and more distinctive than the typical limestone or granite used for most Egyptian sculpture. The entire sphinx was carved from a single block.

It's in Gallery 111 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in the Egyptian Art wing. It weighs 114 kg (252 pounds) and measures 73 cm (29 inches) long.

Senwosret III as a Sphinx

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

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