The Egyptian Department of Underwater Antiquities has recovered three heavy ancient artefacts from the seabed off the coast at Abu Qir Bay in Alexandria. One of them is a large quartz sphinx bearing the cartouches of Ramesses II. The team…
Campbell Price selects one of a pair of sphinxes from the first ‘avenue of sphinxes’, at Deir el-Bahri.
The lion-shaped Great Sphinx at Giza may have been shaped by wind erosion, according to new research from New York University. Laboratory experiments suggest that sphinx-like shapes can form naturally when clay is subjected to a fast-flowing stream of water,…
The joint German-Egyptian mission at Heliopolis, excavating the area surrounding the Obelisk Open-air Museum, has discovered a series of stone fragments from statues depicting Ramesses II, Ramesses IX, Horemheb, and Psamtek II. The finds include heads belonging to sphinxes that…
The face of the sphinx could possibly represent the Roman emperor Claudius
The ancient Egyptian necropolis at Giza is one of the most celebrated archaeological sites in the world. Although the iconic pyramids dominating the plateau continue to excite awe and curiosity, these royal tombs are only one aspect of an extraordinary site. A new book reveals how the rich and poor, and the living and dead, rubbed shoulders at Giza, as Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass told CWA's Matthew Symonds.
When the Etruscans expanded to the south and the vast plains of Campania, they found a land of cultural connections and confrontations, as luxurious grave goods found across the region reveal. An exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples sheds light on these ancient Italians at the frontier. Paolo Giulierini, director of the museum, is our guide.
The symbol of the new Penn Museum is in the refurbished main entrance hall. On a prominent podium behind the ticket desks sits the Museum’s celebrated sphinx. Richard Hodges reports.
Sparta is famous for its warrior tradition, Athens for its intellectual and artistic achievement. But what of Thebes? As ancient historian Paul Cartledge explains, Thebes too had a most distinctive image.