Sphinx of Agost
Encyclopedia
The Sphinx of Agost is a Greek-influenced Iberian
limestone sculpture, dated from the late sixth century BC, that was found in the Agost reservoir in Alicante
, Spain
, in 1893.
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The badly damaged statue is 82 cm high and represents a sphinx
with the head of a woman, body of a winged lion and tail of a snake. This particular sphinx may have been included in an Iberian tomb to carry the soul of the deceased to the afterlife.
The Sphinx of Agost is on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
in Madrid
.
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
limestone sculpture, dated from the late sixth century BC, that was found in the Agost reservoir in Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in 1893.
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
with the head of a woman, body of a winged lion and tail of a snake. This particular sphinx may have been included in an Iberian tomb to carry the soul of the deceased to the afterlife.
The Sphinx of Agost is on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain
National Archaeological Museum of Spain
The National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid, Spain, located beside the Plaza de Colón , sharing its building with the National Library....
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
.