Sphinx
c. 2600 BCE – 400 CEattested
Egypt and Greece
- Egyptian
- Greek
In Egypt a royal guardian with a king's face; in Greece a woman-headed lion who strangles anyone who fails her riddle. The Greeks made it female and made it hostile.
Known for
- human head, lion body
- the riddle
- guardian of thresholds
Dates are estimates. A great deal of what this atlas covers is only datable to within a century.