A colossal granite sphinx of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt from 1479 to 1458 BCE during the 18th Dynasty. This sculpture, which weighs over seven tons, dates to the time of the joint reign of Hatshepsut, and her nephew and successor Thutmose III. It was one of several sphinxes that guarded her mortuary temple in Deir el-Bahari, located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor. Well into his independent reign Thutmose III ordered Hatshepsut's statues to be smashed. The many fragments of this sphinx and several of her other sculptures were found in a quarry near the mortuary temple. This piece was reassembled by the conservators of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, and it is now in this museum. Photo (edited): The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
