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Egyptian Artifacts

Partial Granite Sphinx of Hatshepsut

This is another amazing piece from Gallery 115 at the MET – aka The Hatshepsut Room (as I call it). This granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ is from the joint reign of Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ and Thutmosis III 𓇳𓏠𓆣 It is titled β€œHead and Shoulders of a Sphinx of Hatshepsut” because it used to be part of a large Sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€.

Six 𓏿 large sphinxes π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“¦ of Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ were found at Deir el-Bahri 𓂦𓂋𓂦π“₯𓉐 during the excavations done by the MET. Though it is hard to see in the picture𓏏𓅱𓏏, the sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€ does actually have some remainders of the original paint on it! I can’t even imagine how beautiful π“„€ it must have looked after it was just carved and painted!

Much like your typical Sphinx π“Ž›π“…±π“ƒ­π“€, Hatshepsut π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“ŽΉπ“π“„‚π“π“€Όπ“ͺ is seen wearing the false beard and the nemes headcloth π“ˆ–π“…“π“‹΄, which was the normal style for how pharaohs 𓉐𓉻𓏦 were depicted.

A lot of Hatshepsut’s statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ that are from her temple at Deir el-Bahri 𓂦𓂋𓂦π“₯𓉐 are made of either granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ or red granite π“…“π“Œ³π“π“ŽΆ, which is a very hard rock π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ (aka very resistant to weathering/breakdown). Granite π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“ˆ–π“Œ³π“Ώ was mined is Aswan π“‹΄π“ƒΉπ“ˆ–π“Œπ“²π“Š– and then shipped up the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί- definitely an incredible journey!