Ok, I've been reading, and thinking about the evidence for the theory that the Sphinx was originally a lion, to indicate its construction at the time the Sun was in Leo, and the head being re-carved from an original lion's head. I thought it to be a plausible theory, but how would that be proved, or where could you get hard evidence for that? It occurred to me that, if the theory is true, then if someone drew a picture of the original sphinx, or carved a statue in its likeness, such an image or sculpture would look like any other lion. So, I started looking around for "old egyptian lion statues", and found the following:
Recumbent Lion, Old Kingdom
If we accept the theory that the Sphinx was not always a Sphinx, then there doesn't seem to be much point in comparing the Sphinx with other Egyptian sphinxes, unless the purpose is to explain why the head was recarved as it is. The date of this recumbent lion is about right - if this were carved during the old kingdom, the sculptor might have seen the original sphinx, since the dominant paradigm theory is that the sphinx was carved at about the same time. It is "monumental" in size, and it seems kinda un-Egyptian to carve a monumental statue of just a plain old animal... if Egyptians went to that much trouble, they were probably doing it for symbolic or religious reasons. Also, the head seems to be big enough to allow someone to carve a small sphinx-head out of it. So, what do you think? Is this a statue carved in the likeness of the original sphinx, before the head was re-carved? Does anyone else know anything about this statue that might support my hypothesis?
Recumbent Lion, Old Kingdom
If we accept the theory that the Sphinx was not always a Sphinx, then there doesn't seem to be much point in comparing the Sphinx with other Egyptian sphinxes, unless the purpose is to explain why the head was recarved as it is. The date of this recumbent lion is about right - if this were carved during the old kingdom, the sculptor might have seen the original sphinx, since the dominant paradigm theory is that the sphinx was carved at about the same time. It is "monumental" in size, and it seems kinda un-Egyptian to carve a monumental statue of just a plain old animal... if Egyptians went to that much trouble, they were probably doing it for symbolic or religious reasons. Also, the head seems to be big enough to allow someone to carve a small sphinx-head out of it. So, what do you think? Is this a statue carved in the likeness of the original sphinx, before the head was re-carved? Does anyone else know anything about this statue that might support my hypothesis?