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Author Topic: Sphinx design - the face!  (Read 6449 times)

Offline Hadoque

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2011, 21:03:26 »
Most archeologists assume the original Sphinx had a lion-face when build, in accordance with the Sphinx' body.
Due to wind, sand, etc., the lion's face eroded during time.
At a certain moment, it was decided to sculpture the eroded face into the face of the then living Pharao. That would be the reason why in reality, the sphinx' head is relatively much smaller in accordance with the body.

The Sphinx is generally made of very soft stone and is prone to much more erosion then other contemporary Egyptian constructions. The body was reinforced by later Egyptian dynasties with other stone-material several times, and even the Romans did some restructuring.
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Offline bonniebeth

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2011, 21:06:29 »
That's a very interesting bit of history!
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Offline Wolf Knight

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2011, 21:07:31 »
Yes I had forgotten that! Thanks for reminding us!!  :)
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Offline Ali Baba

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2011, 21:18:24 »
Quote from: hadoque on February 10, 2011, 21:03:26
Most archeologists assume the original Sphinx had a lion-face when build, in accordance with the Sphinx' body.
Due to wind, sand, etc., the lion's face eroded during time.
At a certain moment, it was decided to sculpture the eroded face into the face of the then living Pharao. That would be the reason why in reality, the sphinx' head is relatively much smaller in accordance with the body.

The Sphinx is generally made of very soft stone and is prone to much more erosion then other contemporary Egyptian constructions. The body was reinforced by later Egyptian dynasties with other stone-material several times, and even the Romans did some restructuring.


About the lions head, that is most certainly widely accepted in Egyptology. That idea originates with people who think the sphinx is 12500 years old.

The sphinx has 3 layers of stone. The lowest one is very soft and that is the part that is badly eroded and repaired several times. The hardest part is the top part ie the head, which explains the different levels of erosion.
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Offline Luis

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #14 on: February 10, 2011, 21:21:31 »
Quote from: Bad Mum! on February 10, 2011, 20:25:23
I too couldn't imagine why anyone would want to make the Sphinx anything other than it is supposed to be. Not only would it probably offend the Egyptians and a lot of other people, it wouldn't do a lot to educate children about the Sphinx either.

Learning through play, and all that  :)

Giornetto's post and your answer make a lot of sense :)
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Offline Rasputin

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2011, 01:36:20 »
I heard a while ago that the Egyptian country wanted to trademark the symbols so there was a scramble to make the stuff while they could.
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Offline Wesley Myers

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #16 on: February 11, 2011, 03:02:28 »
Quote from: Wolf Knight on February 10, 2011, 06:19:30
well , as one who dreamt about becoming an archaelogist and specialise in egyptiology... (but that never happened  :()
I really love it!!! Only problem is, its scale is quite small... I expected it bigger...

Me too!  I loved Egyptology as a kid (still do).  I haven't the other posts yet, but the canoptic jars (in the temple set, for some reason, even though they should be with the mummy as they contain the vital organs of the mummy ...) have human faces - as well as the animal faces of the gods represented.

Yes, the scale is very disappointing - but - I thought it would be much better in than the Atlantic Sphinx

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://genieminiature.com/pages%2520Atlan%2520fig/1504.JPG&imgrefurl=http://genieminiature.com/Atlantic%2520figurines%2520civils.htm&usg=__vKwotS3Xpvqhry5v3fn3b-F2w9c=&h=384&w=596&sz=61&hl=en&start=124&zoom=1&tbnid=Bn4rZyriK3AtiM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=179&ei=8aVUTdGnLIKClAe6quCRBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Datlantic%2Bho%2Bsphinx%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-ca:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADFA_en%26biw%3D1327%26bih%3D577%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=359&oei=wqVUTYhkxIG2B6KokOsK&esq=11&page=7&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:124&tx=103&ty=49

For those who are not familiar the Atlantic sphinx is shown with 25mm toy soldiers.
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Offline Ali Baba

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2011, 08:03:17 »
A correct set of canopic jars has only one human faced one. The other jar vaguely hominid is supposed to be a babboon.

And the others are jackal and falcon.
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Offline playmo1989

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #18 on: February 13, 2011, 12:21:51 »
Quote from: Wolf Knight on February 10, 2011, 06:19:30
:()
Only problem is, its scale is quite small... I expected it bigger...


yes the problem is that it is small it would look amazing to be2x the current size not to say 3x.... but i believe it woulden't work as a toy if it was larger it woulden't have any playing abilities for a kid ,it's nice just as a decorating but if so large it would only work as a stateu and not as a toy i was disapointed when i opend the box and saw the size  :( :( :( :( :( :(
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Offline Alison01326

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Re: Sphinx design - the face!
« Reply #19 on: February 15, 2011, 10:41:11 »
I've never seen it (real or Playmobil), and agree that the proper scale would be marvellous BUT impractical in all but the largest house. Is it in scale with the pyramid which also looks  a bit small (have never seen a real or Playmobil pyramid, either).

I imagine that most of you serious collector folk on here live in ENORMOUS houses with expanding walls.  I'm tempted to start a "how big is your house" thread or a "have you had to move house to accommodate your Playmobil" thread  ;) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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