Head and Shoulders of a Sphinx of Hatshepsut

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From Thebes originally, this head was unearthed in 1892 by Edouard Naville in the quarry area, while more fragments were excavated by the MMA along the south side of the quarry and north of the temple by the "priests' houses". In 1926-27, the MMA conducted excavations. The original base of this sphinx measures approximately 3.2 meters long or about 10 feet 6 inches, a length that surpasses any other preserved granite sphinx among Hatshepsut's sculptures. It is highly likely that this royal creature was not part of a pair but stood alone in the temple's vast courts. The wide-open eyes and thick evenly arched brows typical of several Deir el-Bahri sphinx sculptures are also seen on the Metropolitan Museum's better preserved granite sphinx now exhibited at the Dendur temple. Acquired by the Rogers Fund in 1931, accession number 31.3.167.