Sphinx of King Sheshenq
Description
Object Label: The sphinx was one of many composite beings created by the ancient Egyptians. Such images were not simply combinations of human and animal forms; they emphasized the more-than-human aspects of the subject. Small figures of sphinxes were made as temple offerings or as part of the decoration of cult objects. When added to ritual objects, sphinxes such as this served a protective role. The figure is inscribed for a King Sheshenq, but we cannot be certain which of the five pharaohs named Sheshenq is shown. Caption: Sphinx of King Sheshenq, ca. 945–712 B.C.E.. Bronze, 2 × 3/4 × 2 5/8 in. (5.1 × 1.9 × 6.7 cm) mount (Display dimensions): 2 1/4 × 1 1/8 × 3 in. (5.7 × 2.9 × 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 33.586. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Bronze figure of a sphinx with a nemes headdress.
The artifact is a small bronze figure depicting a sphinx, characterized by the body of a lion and the head of a human wearing a nemes headdress. The composition is symmetrical and detailed, demonstrating the skill of the artisan in capturing the regal and divine nature of the sphinx, which was commonly used symbolically in ancient Egyptian art.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 33.586 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3324 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.