Ancient Egyptian Culture and Art

Sphinx of Ramses II

Introduction

Ramses II was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty in the new kingdom era. He ruled ancient Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BCE. While Ramses launched war against the Hittites and the Libyans, what he is most known for today is his extensive building programs and the many statues of him in and around Egypt. One of these is the Sphinx of Ramses II.

Relevant Features

The Sphinx of Ramses II was carved on a single block of red granite. It was made to look like the body of a lion and the head of a man. The sphinx was an important symbol in ancient Egypt: it signified unity between the royal and the divine, and it suggested that the pharaoh had divine powers to protect. The sphinx represents the combination of human intelligence (the human head) and positive strength and power (the lion’s body) (Penn Museum, “The Granite Sphinx of Ramses II”). The combination of the human and lion in the sphinx was a sign by Ramses that his intellect and attributes were superior to the rest of mankind’s, but also that he was there to protect his people from harm. This was an important message since he was also at the same time starting wars with other civilizations. Thus, the sphinx could be said to be a sort of ancient Egyptian propaganda meant to comfort the Egyptian people during wartime (Simpson 1982: 266). In the Sphinx of Ramses II, the Egyptians were meant to see the power of their pharaoh.

The granite sphinx was approximately 362cm in length and 145cm in width—or 14 feet long and 6 feet wide and high—and it is estimated to weigh about 13 tons. The transportation for this massive piece was very challenging, but it was moved to the Philadelphia Museum in 1916, three years following its excavation from the site near Ptah Temple by W. M. Flinders Petrie (Penn Museum “The Great Sphinx of Ramses II”). Penn Museum states that it is the “4th largest sphinx outside of Egypt and largest in the western hemisphere” (“Land of the Pharaohs”).

We know it is the Sphinx of Ramses II because his name is carved into the base of the sculpture, and the base was preserved from the effects of time because for centuries the majority of the sculpture was buried in sand. Only some of the face of the sphinx was exposed to the elements. Thus, the reason behind the details of the Sphinx fading in the face is simply this: time and weather touched there the most; the rest was found buried to its shoulders. The facial features eroded due to the windblow of the sand, but as for the writing on the Sphinx, it was safe buried underneath the sand. However, as Wegner points out in his book on the Sphinx, it was most likely sculpted for a different pharaoh hundreds of years prior and simply adopted by Ramses II, who had his name inscribed upon it (Leong 2016). Ramses II probably had the old sphinx touched up and recarved and dedicated to his kingship for political purposes.

Egyptian Time Period

Why would Ramses II do that? At the time the Sphinx of Ramses II was “born again”, Egypt was at war—alternately with Syrians, Hittites, Nubians, and Libyans (Rice 1999: 166). Ramses II was constantly at war, in other words, and it likely helped give his people a sense of confidence to see the Sphinx of Ramses. It would be like today when our government shows clips of the American flag or the White House in a patriotic or glorified setting. It inspires people and gives them hope and comfort. It was probably much the same for the Egyptians thousands of years ago. Wars can be hard to fight and they can take a toll on the psychology of any people. Thus, the pharaoh probably saw a need to recycle the old sphinx, adopt it for himself, brush it up a bit, and set it near the temple where the Egyptians went to worship. In this way, the Egyptians would associate the divine with the pharaoh and not feel as though they were being led by a mere “man” or person like themselves.

Ramses II was considered a great king, and he did a lot for the Egyptian people. However, he is also known as the pharaoh who kept the Hebrews enslaved in spite of the warning from Moses that God would punish him. But for the Egyptians, Ramses II was great and many other kings after him took the Ramses name—just like the ancient Romans took the name of Caesar after Julius Caesar died. They wanted to associate themselves with that ruler’s greatness. If Ramses II had been a terrible king despised by the people no ruler would have wanted to adopt his name, but history shows quite clearly that nearly a dozen kings after him took the Ramses name in his honor. Ramses II himself seems to have been keenly aware of his greatness as he left behind many memorials to his name. Thus, art in Egypt reflects not only the cultural beliefs about the kings and the religion of the people—but it also reflects the degree to which the powerful king thought highly of himself. He wanted to be remembered by all. And big art represents big power—and the Sphinx of Ramses II was definitely an example of great big art.

Big Art, Big Power

Just to give an idea of how big the Sphinx of Ramses II is, when it arrived at the Museum in Philadelphia it had to be hoisted over the wall out front—there was no other way to move it inside (Leong 2016). But that was just to get in onto the compound: there was still no room for it inside the actual building. So it remained in the compound’s garden for a time (a few years to be precise), until eventually it was moved to just within the building’s front doors while a new home in the Egypt Gallery could be constructed for it (Leong 2016). As the Museum grew, however, it basically grew up around the Sphinx—so if curators wanted to move the Sphinx today, they would have to knock down whole walls to get the Sphinx out. In other words, it is now permanently placed and will not be leaving the Penn Museum barring a total demolition project.

But even to get the Sphinx of Ramses II back to America, it had to be dragged across Egypt to the nearest train depot, where it could be hauled onto a freight car and then hoisted onto a ship in the Suez Canal. The Sphinx actually had to sit for few months at the Suez Canal because there was no ship there large enough to carry it home across the Atlantic (Leong 2016). Then in America it had to be moved on a heavy cart with iron wheels, pulled by ten horses (this was well before there were auto trucks like we have today—but the fact that it took ten horses to pull the cart on iron wheels should give one a sense of and appreciation for a car today that has just 180 horsepower) (Penn Museum “The Granite Sphinx of Ramses II”). Once at the Museum, it required 50 men to help move it over the wall, up a flight of steps, and onto the pedestal in the garden outside the building (Penn Museum “The Granite Sphinx of Ramses II”). So we are talking about a very big Sphinx. And big Sphinxes send big messages: big art means big power—and Ramses II had both. This Sphinx took massive amounts of manpower and man hours to dig up from the mud of Egypt where it was found, to drag it across the Egyptian fields, to lift it onto a train car, and to haul it onto a ship, to carry it off the dock, and to get it into Penn Museum. This was no simple feat, and no easy process: it took many months all told—and it was three years, in fact, from the time it was excavated in 1913 to the time it arrived at the Museum in 1916. That’s 36 months of heavy lifting, waiting around for more help, and more hauling.

Ramses II’s Contribution to the Sphinx

On the chest of the Sphinx, Ramses II had inscribed this identifier: “Lord of the Two Lands, User-maat-re Setep-en-re, Lord of Appearances, Ramses Meryamun, given life forever” (Penn Museum “The Granite Sphinx of Ramses II”). That is certainly an expression of confidence if ever there was one: he is lord of the land and immortal, apparently—so the Sphinx told Egyptians and still tells us today. Ramses II had the original name of the king eradicated from the Sphinx and the Sphinx was dedicated to him at one of Egypt’s greatest temples—so this was no insignificant sphinx.

But the carving did not stop there. Ramses II had a son who also added to the sphinx: his son added his own hieroglyphics to the sphinx, appending a story to the story already told thereon. That story is the story of kings—how they see themselves as lords who have the gift of immortality and who have various titles that call their greatness to mind.

Thus, the big art that represented big power also had a big family bond in the Ramses household. After Ramses II passed away, the family bonds of strength and unity of family were still communicated to the people of Egypt. And this was likely more important than ever, since the Egyptians had lost their Hebrew slaves and needed some comfort.