The Great Sphinx of Giza, with the Pyramid of Khafre in the background

A Sphinx is a zoomorphic mythological figure, depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head. The Great Sphinx of Giza (أبو الهول "The Father of Fear" is a half-human half-lion Sphinx statue in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau at the Khafre's Pyramid is the second largest of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza and the tomb of the fourth-dynasty Pharaoh Khafre It has its origins in sculpted figures of Old Kingdom Egypt, to which the ancient Greeks applied their own name for a female monster, the "strangler", an archaic figure of Greek mythology. The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Similar creatures appear throughout South and South-East Asia, and the sphinx enjoyed a major revival in European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere

Egyptian sphinxes

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, a Sphinx is a zoomorphic figure, usually depicted as a recumbent lioness or lion with a human head, but occasionally with the head of a falcon, hawk, or ram. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The figure had its origin in the Old Kingdom and is associated with the solar deity Sekhmet, who also was the fierce war deity and protector of the pharaohs. The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet, Sakhmet and Sekhet; and given the Greek name She remained as a strong figure in Egyptian religion throughout its history, even during the Amarna period. The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below ( Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah) is located The sphinx were often described as Sekhmet's children. The use of heads of other animals atop the lioness body followed the titularly deities of the city or region where they were built or which were prominent in the Egyptian pantheon at the time. Ancient Egyptian religion was Polytheistic and often Zoomorphic.

Generally the roles of sphinxes were as temple guardians and they were placed in association with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples. Later, the sphinx image, or something very similar to the original Egyptian concept, was imported into many other cultures, albeit often interpreted quite differently due to translations of descriptions of the originals and the evolution of the concept in relation to other cultural traditions.

Perhaps the first sphinx, Hetepheres II from the fourth dynasty - Cairo Museum

Perhaps the first sphinx was one depicting Hetepheres II, of the fourth dynasty that lasted from 2723 to 2563 BC. Queen Hetepheres II may have been one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. Queen Hetepheres II may have been one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt. The fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt is characterized as a Golden age of the Old Kingdom. The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. It represents a period of time in which Imperialism, or the desire to conquer grew to prominence The 26th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2600 BC to 2501 BC The largest and most famous is the Great Sphinx of Giza, sited at the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River and facing due east, is also from the same dynasty ( 29°58′31″N, 31°08′15″E). The Great Sphinx of Giza (أبو الهول "The Father of Fear" is a half-human half-lion Sphinx statue in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau at the You may have been looking for the Great Pyramid of Giza. For the three pyramids of Giza visit the Giza pyramid complex. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River Although the date of its construction is uncertain, the head of the Great Sphinx now is believed to be that of the pharaoh Khafra. Khafre also refers to a block cipher Khafra or Khafre ( Greek Χεφρήν, Chephren)

Avenue of ram-headed sphinxes at Karnak in Luxor dating to the eighteenth dynasty

What names their builders gave to these statues is not known. The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples chapels pylons and other buildings Luxor (in Arabic: الأقصر al-Uqṣur) is a city in Upper (southern Egypt and the capital of Luxor A statue is a Sculpture in the round representing a person or persons an animal or an event normally full-length as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size Probably having been erected a thousand years later, in 1400 BCE, by Thutmose IV the inscription on a stele at the Great Sphinx site lists the names of three aspects of the local sun deity of that period, Khepera - Re - Atum. Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV and meaning Thoth is Born) was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty A stele (from Greek:, stēlē, ˈstiːli plural stelae,, stēlai, ˈstiːlaɪ also found Latinised singular stela This article is about the Egyptian god For the type of robot see Khepera mobile robot. Re, bre, moré (with many variants is an Interjection common to the languages of the Balkans, Turkish, and Venetian, with Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important Deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred The inclusion of these figures in tomb and temple complexes quickly became traditional and many pharaohs had their heads carved atop the guardian statues for their tombs to show their close relationship with the powerful deity, Sekhmet. In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet, Sakhmet and Sekhet; and given the Greek name

Other famous Egyptian sphinxes include one bearing the head of the pharaoh Hatshepsut, with her likeness carved in granite, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the alabaster sphinx of Memphis, currently located within the open-air museum at that site. Hatshepsut (or Hatchepsut, hætˈʃɛpsʊt meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct Minerals Gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of Calcium) and Calcite Memphis was the ancient capitol of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and The theme was expanded to great avenues of guardian sphinxes lining the avenues to tombs and temples as well as serving as details atop the posts of flights of stairs to very grand complexes. Nine hundred with rams' heads, representing Amon, were built in Thebes, where his cult was strongest. Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile (

Greek Sphinx, Attica, c. Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece 530 BC

Greek traditions about sphinxes

From the Bronze Age the Hellenes had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for Before the time that Alexander the Great occupied Egypt their name, sphinx, was already applied to these statues. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' The historians and geographers of Greece wrote extensively about the Egyptian culture and their writings were circulated widely with Greek and Roman culture. They sometimes called the ram-headed sphinxes, criosphinxes and the bird-headed ones, hierocosphinxes.

The word "Sphinx" comes from the Greek Σφιγξ — Sphingx, apparently from the verb σφιγγω — sphinggo, meaning "to strangle" (note that the γ takes on a 'ng' sound in front of both γ and ξ). Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly This may be a name derived from the fact that the hunters for a pride are the lionesses and they kill their prey by strangulation, biting the throat of prey and holding them down until they die. The word "sphincter" derives from the same root. A sphincter is a structure usually a circular Muscle, that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological

There was a single Sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. According to Hesiod she was a daughter of Echidna and Orthrus or, according to others, a daughter of Echidna and Typhon. Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE In the most ancient layers of Greek mythology Echidna (Greek Ἔχιδνα ( ekhis (ἔχις meaning "she viper" was For the genus of Jumping spiders, see Orthrus. In Greek mythology, Orthrus (also called Orthros, Orthos In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon ( All of these are chthonic figures from the earliest of Greek myths, before the Olympians ruled the Greek pantheon. Chthonic (from Greek χθόνιος khthonios "of the earth" from khthōn "earth" pertaining to the Earth; earthy subterranean

She was represented in vase-painting and bas-reliefs most often seated upright rather than recumbent, as a winged lion with a woman's head; or she was a woman with the paws, claws and breasts of a lion, a serpent's tail and eagle wings. A bas-relief (baʁəljɛf in French; French for "low relief" derived from the Italian basso rilievo) or low relief is a Sculpture Serpent is a word of Latin origin (from serpens serpentis "something that creeps snake" that is commonly used in a specifically mythic or Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera

The Sphinx was the emblem of the ancient city-state of Chios, and appeared on seals and the obverse side of coins from the sixth century BC until the third century AD. Chios (Χίος pronounced ˈçio̞s alternative transliterations Khíos and Híos) is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated

The Riddle of the Sphinx

She is said to have guarded the entrance to a certain area, often the Greek city of Thebes, and to have asked a riddle of travelers to obtain passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the stories about the sphinx, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history. ^[1]

It was said in late lore that Hera or Ares sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland (the Greeks always remembered the foreign origin of the Sphinx) to Thebes in Greece where, in the writings of Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus, she asks all passersby history's most famous riddle: "Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" She strangled and devoured anyone unable to answer. In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hera (ˈhɪərə or /ˈhɛrə/ Greek) or Here ( in Ionic and Homer In Greek mythology, Ares ( Ancient Greek:, Μodern Greek Άρης) is the son of Zeus and Hera. NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Oedipus the King ( Ancient Greek: tyrannos Modern Greek: ( "Oedipus the Tyrant" also known as Oedipus Rex, is a A riddle is a Statement or Question having a double or veiled meaning put forth as a Puzzle to be solved Oedipus solved the riddle: answering, Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age. Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed"

Bested at last, the tale continues, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. Thus Oedipus can be recognized as a liminal or "threshold" figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the death of the Sphinx, and the rise of the new, Olympian deities. Liminality (from the Latin The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon ( Greek: Δωδεκάθεον

Sphinxes in South and South-East Asia

Purushamriga or Indian sphinx depicted on the Shri Varadaraja Perumal temple in Tribhuvana, India

A composite mythological being with the body of a lion and the head of a human being is present in the traditions, mythology and art of South and South-East Asia^[2] Variously known as purushamriga (Sanskrit, "human-beast"), purushamirukam (Tamil, "human-beast"), naravirala (Sanskrit, "man-cat") in India, or as nara-simha (Pali, "man-lion") in Sri Lanka,^[3] manusiha or manuthiha (Pali, "man-lion") in Myanmar, and nora nair or thepnorasingh in Thailand.

In contrast to the sphinx in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece, where the traditions largely have been lost due to the discontinuity of the civilization,^[4] the traditions of the "Asian sphinx" are very much alive today. The earliest artistic depictions of "sphinxes" from the South Asian subcontinent are to some extent influenced by Hellenistic art and writings. The Art of the Hellenistic period has long been the victim of the relative disdain attached to the period These hail from the period when Buddhist art underwent a phase of Hellenistic influence. But the "sphinxes" from Mathura, Kausambi, and Sanchi, dated to the third century BC until the first century AD, also show a considerable non-Hellenist, indigenous character. It is not possible, therefore, to conclude the concept of the "sphinx" originated through foreign influence. ^[5].

In South India the "sphinx" is known as purushamriga (Sanskrit) or purushamirukam (Tamil), meaning "human-beast". It is found depicted in sculptural art in temples and palaces where it serves an apotropaic purpose, just as the "sphinxes" in other parts of the ancient world. ^[6] It is said by the tradition, to take away the sins of the devotees when they enter a temple and to ward off evil in general. It is therefore often found in a strategic position on the gopuram or temple gateway, or near the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum. A Gopuram or gopura (also known as a vimanam) is a monumental tower usually ornate at the entrance of a temple especially in Southern India. The Sanctum Sanctorum is a fictional building in the Marvel Universe.

Male purushamriga or Indian sphinx guarding the entrance of the Shri Shiva Nataraja temple in Chidambaram

The purushamriga plays a significant role in daily as well as yearly ritual of South Indian Shaiva temples. Shaivism, also spelled "Saivism" names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. In the sodasa-upacara (or sixteen honors) ritual, performed between one to six times at significant sacred moments through the day, it decorates one of the lamps of the diparadhana or lamp ceremony. And in several temples the purushamriga is also one of the vahana or vehicles of the deity during the processions of the Brahmotsava or festival. Vâhana or a Hindu vehicle, sometimes called a mount, is an animal mythical entity or Chimera (or sometimes a divine attribute closely

In Kanya Kumari district, in the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, during the night of Shiva Ratri, devotees run 75 kilometers while visiting and worshiping at twelve Shiva temples. This Shiva Ottam (or Run for Shiva) is performed in commemoration of the story of the race between the Sphinx and Bhima, one of the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. In the Mahābhārata, Bhima ( Sanskrit: भीम IAST: Bhīma was the second of the Pandava brothers

In Sri Lanka the sphinx is known as narasimha or man-lion. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island As a sphinx it has the body of a lion and the head of a human being, and is not to be confused with Narasimha, the fourth reincarnation of the deity Mahavishnu; this avatara or incarnation is depicted with a human body and the head of a lion. Narasimha ( IAST Narasiṃha Sanskrit नरसिंह (other spellings are Narasingh, Narasinga) is an Avatara of Vishnu Mahavishnu ( Devanagari: महाविष्णु is an aspect of Vishnu, the Absolute which is beyond human comprehension and is beyond all attributes Avatar or Avatara (अवतार IAST Avatāra) is often inaccurately translated into English as incarnation The "sphinx" narasimha is part of the Buddhist tradition and functions as a guardian of the northern direction and also was depicted on banners.

In Burma the sphinx is known as manusiha and manuthiha. Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. It is depicted on the corners of Buddhist stupas, and its legends tell how it was created by Buddhist monks to protect a new-born royal baby from being devoured by ogresses. A stupa (from Sanskrit and Pāli: m स्तूप stūpa, literally meaning "heap" is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist An ogre (feminine ogress) is a large cruel and hideous Humanoid Monster, featured in mythology folklore and fiction

Nora Nair and Thep Norasingh are two of the names under which the "sphinx" is known in Thailand. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj They are depicted as upright walking beings with the lower body of a lion or deer, and the upper body of a human. Often they are found as female-male pairs. Here too, the sphinx serves a protective function. It also is enumerated among the mythological creatures that inhabit the ranges of the sacred mountain Himapan. The Himmavanta ( Himapan, Himmapan, or Himaphan in Thai) is a legendary forest which surrounds the base of Mount Meru in Hindu ^[7]

Similar creatures

Not all human-headed animals of antiquity are sphinxes. In ancient Assyria, for example, bas-reliefs of bulls with the crowned bearded heads of kings guarded the entrances to temples. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The Sumerian word lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity

In the classical Olympian mythology of Greece, all the deities had human form, although they could assume their animal natures as well. All the creatures of Greek myth who combine human and animal form are archaic survivals: centaurs, Typhon, Medusa, Lamia. In Greek mythology, the centaurs (from Ancient Greek: Κένταυροι - Kéntauroi are a race of creatures composed of part Human In Greek mythology, Medusa ( Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa "guardian protectress" was a monstrous Chthonic female character gazing upon In Greek mythology, Lamia was a Queen of Libya who became a child-murdering daemon.

Narasimha ("man-lion") is described as an incarnation (avatara) of Vishnu within the Puranic texts of Hinduism who takes the form of half-man / half-lion, having a human torso and lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws. Narasimha ( IAST Narasiṃha Sanskrit नरसिंह (other spellings are Narasingh, Narasinga) is an Avatara of Vishnu Avatar or Avatara (अवतार IAST Avatāra) is often inaccurately translated into English as incarnation For other meanings see Vishnu (disambiguation. Vishnu ( IAST viṣṇu Devanagari विष्णु (honorific For other meanings see Purana (disambiguation. The Puranas ( Sanskrit: sa पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times" Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The Asiatic Lion ( Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of the Lion which survives today only in India where it is also known as the Indian lion

The Manticore is a similar creature, who also features a lion's body with human-like face. The manticore is a Legendary creature similar to the Egyptian Sphinx.

Revived sphinxes in Europe

La Granja, Spain, mid-18th century

The revived Mannerist sphinx of the sixteenth century is sometimes thought of as the French sphinx. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. Her coiffed head is erect and she has the breasts of a young woman. Often she wears ear drops and pearls as ornaments. A pearl is a hard roundish object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled Mollusk. Her body is naturalistically rendered as a recumbent lioness. Such Sphinxes were revived when the grottesche or "grotesque" decorations of the unearthed "Golden House" (Domus Aurea) of Nero were brought to light in late fifteenth century Rome, and she was incorporated into the classical vocabulary of arabesque designs that spread throughout Europe in engravings during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. When used in conversation grotesque commonly means strange fantastic ugly or bizarre and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween The Domus Aurea ( Latin for "Golden House" was a large landscaped portico Villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( December 15, 37 – June 9, 68) born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Sphinxes were included in the decoration of the loggia of the Vatican Palace by the workshop of Raphael (1515-20), which updated the vocabulary of the Roman grottesche. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and

Fernand Khnopff's symbolist version of a Sphinx

The first appearances of sphinxes in French art are in the School of Fontainebleau in the 1520s and 1530s and she continues into the Late Baroque style of the French Régence (1715–1723). Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff ( September 12, 1858 in Grembergen near Dendermonde, Belgium - November 12, The Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château de Fontainebleau Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed

From France she spread throughout Europe, becoming a regular feature of the outdoors decorative sculpture of eighteenth-century palace gardens, as in the Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna, La Granja in Spain, or the late Rococo examples in the grounds of the Portuguese Queluz National Palace (of perhaps the 1760s), with ruffs and clothed chests ending with a little cape. The Belvedere is a Baroque palace complex built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-east of the city centre Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Rococo is a style of 18th century French art and Interior design. The Queluz National Palace ( Palácio Nacional de Queluz) is a Portuguese 18th-century palace located at The Ruff ( Philomachus pugnax) is a medium-sized Wader. It is usually considered the only member of its Genus Philomachus, but more recent research

Sphinxes are a feauture of the neoclassical interior decorations of Robert Adam and his followers, returning closer to the undressed style of the grottesche. Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century both as a reaction against the Rococo Robert Adam ( 3 July 1728 &ndash 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical Architect, Interior designer They had an equal appeal to artists and designers of the romantic, and later symbolism movements in the nineteenth century. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century Art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts Most of these sphinxes alluded to the Greek sphinx, rather than the Egyptian, although they may not have wings. Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed"

Sphinxes in Freemasonry

Sphinx adopted as an emblem in Masonic architecture

The sphinx image also has been adopted into Masonic architecture. Among the Egyptians, sphinxes were placed at the entrance of the temple to guard the mysteries, by warning those who penetrated within, that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated; and hence, Portal derives from the word from the Hebrew TSaPHaN, to Hide. Champollion says that the sphinx became successively the symbol of each of the gods, by which Portal suggests that the priests intended to express the idea that all the gods were hidden from the people, and that the knowledge of them, guarded in the sanctuaries, was revealed to the initiates only. As a Masonic emblem, the sphinx has been adopted in its Egyptian character as a symbol of mystery, and as such often is found as a decoration sculptured in front of Masonic temples, or engraved at the head of Masonic documents. It cannot, however, be properly called an ancient, recognized symbol of the Order. Its introduction has been of comparatively recent date, and rather as a symbolic decoration than as a symbol that announces any dogma.

The Sphinx in U. S. Army Military Intelligence

This is the regimental distinctive insignia for the military intelligence branch for the United States Army.

The Sphinx has been associated with the U.S. Army Military Intelligence since 1923, when it was adopted as the insignia of the Military Intelligence Officers Reserve Corps. Military intelligence (abbreviated MI int Commonwealth, or intel This mythological creature has exemplified the combination of wisdom with strength from ancient times to the present. It is on the Military Intelligence Corps regimental insignia and is included on many unit crests. A large statue of the Sphinx can be found at Fort Huachuca at the north end of historic Brown parade field not far from the MI Corps museum. Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command ^[8]

The original branch insignia was authorized on 30 July 1923. It is described as a gold color eared shield bearing a circle connected with the border by 13 radial ribs, within the circle a sphinx in profile couchant. The thirteen stripes on the shield converge toward a common point at the center where sits the sphinx, the symbol of wisdom and strength, thus symbolizing the collection of information by the Military Intelligence; and conversely from the center after evaluation, the military information is disseminated. The Military Intelligence Branch, USAR, was merged with the newly-established Army Intelligence and Security Branch on 1 July 1962 and the insignia was cancelled. ^[9]

Gallery

Typical Egyptian sphinx with a human head	Sphinx of Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut with unusual ear and ruff features, 1503-1482 BC	Ancient Greek sphinx from Delphi	Modern reproduction of symbol used for Chian goods and coinage during pre-Hellenic times
3000-year-old sphinxes were imported from Egypt to embellish public spaces in Saint Petersburg and other European capitals	Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna	Queluz wingless rococo sphinx	Classic Régence garden Sphinx in lead, Château Empain, Enghien, Belgium
Park Schönbusch in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, 1789-90	Ingres, Oedipus and the Sphinx	Hôtel de Ville, Paris, 1870s	Symbolist Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau
A contemporary sphinx by Botero, in Medellín, Colombia	Sphinx at Plaza de los Emperadores (Parque de El Capricho, Madrid)

Notes

See also

• Griffin
• Pyramid
• Egyptian pyramids
• Hippogriff
• Simurgh
• Angel

External links