Egyptian Dreams

[Rozette]

Sphinx " The guardians of Egypt"

Link with 23 photographs
http://ing.all2all.org/cms/photos_en.php


From 19 October 2006 to 25 February 2007

The Sphinx exhibition describes, through some 200 works, the stylistic developments and myth of the Sphinx in ancient Egypt.

Sculptures, mural fragments, sarcophaguses, jewels, and day-to-day objects from ancient Egypt give the visitor a clear picture of the various hidden messages conveyed by these mysterious creatures.

The Louvre, the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Brooklyn and Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Museums of Archaeology of Turin, Leiden, Berlin and Leipzig have all provided their full support for this project and have contributed their most beautiful exhibits to illustrate the many aspects involved.


The exhibition focuses on seven facets of the sphinx.


1. The sphinx as the image of the Pharaoh, the supreme authority of Egyptian society. The throne of the Pharaoh is always flanked by sphinxes.

2. The Giza Sphinx is the oldest and most well-known of the representations of the sphinx: animal strength and human intelligence are combined in this strange creature. Like the Pharaoh, the sphinx is the guarantor of social order, and even of cosmic order. Sphinxes are the guardians of temples and pyramids.

3. The King, the lion and the Pharaoh: like the lion, the king is always victorious; he always triumphs over his enemies. This type of sphinx has a lion's mane. The body of an animal combined with a human face conveys an impression of incredible strength.

4. The Pharaoh can also metamorphose: into a bull and falcon with the features of Horus – the incarnation of strength, who decides on life and death during the hunt.

5. The female sphinx is rare in Egypt. Princesses and women pharaohs tend to bear the traits of cats and lions.

6. Other bodies and other heads: a marvellous world of strange creatures with a human body and animal head or the reverse.

7. The sphinx in other ancient cultures: the Cretans, the Punic peoples, the Phoenicians, etc., also used the symbol of the sphinx.

Sphinx is an exhibition organised by the Arts Department of ING Belgium with the cooperation of Professor Eugène Warmenbol of the ULB

http://ing.all2all.org/cms/presentation_en.php