The Bronze Sphinx of Thutmose III is a statuette of a sphinx made during the
18th Dynasty of Egypt under the reign of
Thutmose III
Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 2 ...
, who ruled from c. 1479 to 1425 BCE. Adorned with multiple symbols of royal power, it might have been an element or a lock. It was purchased by the Louvre in 1826, and is part of the permanent collections in the display case 4 in Room 637 (formerly 24), Sully Wing, first floor.
Symbolism
The statuette is adorned with gold inlays highlighting symbols of royal power. The sphinx depicts Pharaoh reclining on the
Nine bows
The Nine Bows is a visual representation in Ancient Egyptian art of foreigners or others. Besides the nine bows, there were no other generic representations of foreigners. Due to its ability to stand in for any nine enemies to Ancient Egypt, the ...
, which represent the traditional enemies of Egypt brought to submission. The front of the statuette uses the lapwing Rekhyt bird to spell: ''"all the people give praise"'', using the
basket hieroglyph V30 𓎠 ("nb") for "all"; the
lapwing hieroglyph G24 𓅛 ("rḫyt") for "the people"; and the
star hieroglyph N14 𓇼 for "praising" (this is a
rebus
A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+ ...
).
Djed
The ''djed,'' also ''djt'' ( egy, ḏd 𓊽, Coptic ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/) is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in ancient Egyptian religion. It is a pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing sta ...
pillars of "Dominion" adorn on the side of the statuette.
Sources and references
Sphinx de Thoutmosis III www.louvre.fr
{{Louvre Museum
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Sculptures of ancient Egypt
Egyptian antiquities of the Louvre