Great Sphinx of Tanis

Lore & Background

The Great Sphinx of Tanis was created much earlier than its discovery context, but exactly when remains debated, with hypotheses of the 4th Dynasty (26th century BC) or the 12th Dynasty. All that is left of the earliest inscription mentions the reign of pharaoh Amenemhat II of the 12th Dynasty. Later rulers took the opportunity to add their inscriptions to the sphinx, namely Aaqenenre Apophis of the 15th Dynasty (although the mention is uncertain), Merneptah of the 19th Dynasty, and Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty.

Reader's Guide

The Great Sphinx of Tanis is significant as a rare pink granite sphinx from ancient Egypt, with a history of reuse by multiple pharaohs across different dynasties. Its acquisition by the Louvre in 1826, as part of the second Egyptian collection of Henry Salt, was led on behalf of the French state by Jean-François Champollion. Initially planned for outdoor display in the Cour Carrée, it was instead exhibited in the museum's courtyard (later known as the cour du Sphinx) from 1828 until 1848, then moved to the galerie Henri IV. In the mid-1930s, it was transferred to its present location in a crypt designed by Louvre architect Albert Ferran. The sphinx's debated dating and layered inscriptions offer insight into how later rulers appropriated earlier monuments to legitimize their own reigns.

Did You Know?

• The Great Sphinx of Tanis is made of pink granite.
• It was discovered in the ruins of the Temple of Amun-Ra in Tanis, Egypt's capital during the 21st and 22nd dynasties.
• The earliest surviving inscription mentions pharaoh Amenemhat II of the 12th Dynasty.
• The Louvre acquired it in 1826 as part of the second Egyptian collection of Henry Salt.

Origins and the Mystery of Its Date

The Great Sphinx of Tanis is carved from pink granite, a material choice that immediately distinguishes it from many other Egyptian monumental sculptures. What makes its origins particularly fascinating is that no one can pin down exactly when it was first chiseled. Scholars have proposed two main windows: the 4th Dynasty, placing it in the 26th century BC during the era of the great pyramid builders, or the 12th Dynasty, a considerably later period. The surviving evidence is fragmentary. The oldest inscription that remains on the statue references the reign of Amenemhat II, a 12th Dynasty pharaoh, but this tells us only when someone first marked the work, not when it was actually sculpted. The gap between these two hypotheses spans roughly a millennium, making the sphinx one of those artifacts whose true age continues to elude definitive proof.

A Palimpsest of Royal Claims

Over the centuries, the sphinx became a canvas for successive rulers who saw value in associating their names with such a powerful image. Beyond the earliest traceable inscription referencing Amenemhat II of the 12th Dynasty, later rulers carved their own marks into the stone. Aaqenenre Apophis of the 15th Dynasty is thought to have added his name, though scholars note this attribution remains uncertain. Merneptah of the 19th Dynasty and Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty both left their inscriptions on the monument as well. This layering of names spanning the 15th, 19th, and 22nd Dynasties transforms the sphinx into a kind of political palimpsest, a record of who felt entitled to stake a claim on the monument across many generations. Each ruler who added a mark was effectively asserting continuity with an older, more sacred tradition, leveraging the statue's perceived antiquity to reinforce their own authority and legitimacy in the eyes of their subjects.

From Tanis to the Louvre

The sphinx spent its final ancient days in the ruins of the Temple of Amun-Ra at Tanis, a city that served as Egypt's capital during the 21st and 22nd dynasties. Its journey to Europe began in 1826 when it entered the Louvre as part of the second Egyptian collection assembled by Henry Salt. The purchase was conducted on behalf of the French state, with Jean-François Champollion overseeing the acquisition. Once in Paris, the sphinx did not immediately settle into a permanent home. Early plans called for it to be installed outdoors at the center of the Cour Carrée, but those ambitions were never realized. Instead, from 1828 to 1848, it stood in the museum's courtyard, a space that has carried the name cour du Sphinx ever since. In 1848 it moved indoors to the galerie Henri IV, which remains the principal room for monumental Egyptian sculpture in the museum's Egyptian Department.

The Sphinx Finds Its Final Home

In the mid-1930s, the sphinx underwent one final relocation within the Louvre. Architect Albert Ferran designed a purpose-built crypt to connect the two halves of the southern wing of the Cour Carrée, and the great granite figure was installed there. This move gave the sculpture a dedicated, architecturally integrated setting rather than the more incidental placements it had occupied for the preceding decades. The trajectory of the sphinx's display locations—from an abandoned outdoor plan, to an open courtyard, to a gallery, and finally to a purpose-designed crypt—mirrors the broader evolution of how museums in the 19th and 20th centuries thought about presenting ancient monuments. Each relocation reflected a different philosophy: the courtyard placement treated the sphinx as a landmark, the gallery placement framed it within a scholarly context, and the crypt placement gave it a sense of discovery and reverence. Today, visitors encounter the pink granite sphinx in this Ferran-designed space, a fitting culmination of its long journey from the temple ruins of Tanis to the halls of the Louvre.