Under the protection of the Great Sphinx
Journey along the Nile
Great Sphinx of Tanis
Imagine you are an Egyptian living in the city of Tanis about four thousand years ago. You would have seen this enormous sphinx at the temple dedicated to the god Amun-Ra. The sphinx has the body of a lion, representing the god Horus, and a human’s head, that of the king. The sphinx shows that Pharaoh got his power from the gods, especially the Sun god Ra, creator of the universe, and therefore is his ‘son’. His huge paws and crouching body signal that the sphinx is ready to defend and protect. The statue was placed at the entrance to sacred places to prevent evil spirits from harming the gods.
Work in an Egyptian temple
If you lived in Tanis in the year 2600 BC, you may have worked at the temple of Amun-Ra. The most important religious sites were like cities, thousands of people worked there: priests, of course, but also peasants, butchers, florists, bakers, cooks, craftsmen, scribes and people who looked after the property of the temple.