Two sphinxes originating from Ancient Egypt. The figures with the body of a lion and the face of a human are over 5 meters long. Each weighs 23 tons, and their age is over three thousand years. The sphinxes on University Embankment are among the oldest monuments in Saint Petersburg.
Originally, the sphinxes guarded the entrance to the temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Thebes. Their heads depicted the face of the pharaoh, ruler of Lower and Upper Egypt. The great civilization disappeared, the temple fell into ruin, and the sculptures remained buried under layers of sand. They were discovered only two hundred years ago and put up for sale.
A large number of ancient inscriptions are carved on each sphinx. Almost all of them were translated in 1912 by the famous orientalist Struve. The texts contain praise for Pharaoh Amenhotep.
Among the hieroglyphs, one can see the pictograph of an "owl".
Now let's transliterate the inscription in full:
And now let's substitute the meanings of the words:
Well, it remains to translate: "May Horus live, the mighty bull, shining in Truth!"
More detailed information about the sphinxes can be found here: https://reveal.world/story/sfinksy-na-universitetskoj-naberezhnoj
Sources:
https://vk.com/@petrom-sfinksy-v-detalyah-uchimsya-chitat-ieroglify
Petrovsky N.S. Egyptian Language. Moscow, 1958
Solkin V.V. Petersburg Sphinxes. The Sun on the Banks of the Neva. St. Petersburg, 2005
https://elementy.ru/kartinka_dnya/1567/Peterburgskie_sfinksy
