Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Pink Granite Sphinx

Rome and The Vatican Museum were some of my Nonno’s absolute favorite places to be and I am so so lucky that we were able to travel there together in 2014. Some of the best days of my life were spent in Rome and Rome has remained my favorite city since that visit. I love Rome’s combination of ancient and modern – the whole vibe of the city very much fits my personality!

This is the pink granite π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ Sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€ in the Vatican and it is dated to the first century AD. Even as a geologist it’s so weird that this rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ is classified as pink granite π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ because it isn’t pink! Red granite π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ is actually a lot more pink and many can get the two 𓏻 rocks π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“¦ confused! For the purpose of writing hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ, I used the same word for both red and pink granite since the rocks π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“¦ are definitely similar!

It was difficult to find information about this Sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€ which is why I haven’t made a post about it even though I love this picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏!

But just looking at it you can tell the craftsmanship is exquisite! You can definitely see the merging of Egyptian and Roman styles in this piece. The Sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€ is also so big, which makes it even more impressive. It is so difficult to work with granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ because it is a very hard and stable rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ (which is why it’s so great to use for countertops)!