Mummies examines the history of the sphinx, the massive statue-- half man, half beast--that for more than 2,000 years has captivated travelers’ imaginations and mystified scholars. While describing the ancients’ beliefs about death and the afterlife, it discusses the symbolic function of statues, art, and other objects found within the tombs of the ancient Egyptians.

Part 2

Part 2 describes the shifts in perceptions of the sphinx as Greeks, Romans, and finally the French under Napoleon moved through Egypt.

It will be useful for students of ancient history, art, and architecture.

• Giza
• Ramses
• Tutankhamen
• colossus
• excavation
• folklore
• hieroglyph
• liminal
• medieval
• mysticism
• necropolis
• pharaoh
• plunder
• proxy
• sphinx

1. What did the sphinx symbolize to the ancient Egyptians? What was its function within the Egyptian civilization?

2. How did the ancient Greeks interpret its meaning? How did the medieval Arabs view the sphinx? What do scholars today believe about the sphinx?

3. Describe the sphinx. How have scholars learned about its precise proportions and appearance at the time of its construction?

4. Why was the plundering of the tombs considered such a terrible crime, even in ancient times? Why did the new kingdom, in approximately the fifteenth century BC, build its tombs in the Valley of the Kings?

5. Compare the role and responsibilities of the pharaoh to those of the president of the United States.

6. How do Egyptologists gather information about ancient Egypt? What sources do they use? Do you think these sources are reliable?

7. Why did the Egyptians make statues of the dead? Why did they make offerings of food to the dead?

8. Why was time considered the “enemy” of the ancients?

1. Imagine you are a traveler in Egypt during the nineteenth century. Write a diary entry or a poem describing your feelings on seeing the sphinx.

2. Draw a time line of Egyptian history beginning about 2,600 BC and moving through the invasions of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and French. Mark the periods in which the pyramids and the sphinx were constructed.

3. Write an essay in which you analyze and describe the role of the sphinx in the old and new kingdoms. How did its meaning change? What does the sphinx, as a symbol and as a massive architectural feat, tell us about ancient Egyptian civilization? Do contemporary Americans have symbols that serve a similar function in our society-- in Washington, DC, perhaps? Compare the significance of those symbols to that of the sphinx.

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Air Dates

• May 11, 2004