Red granite sphinx of king Ammenemes II, from Tanis, c. 1900 BC.
The massive sphinx of Ammenemes II, one of watchful gaze in the human head, and a latent power in the recumbent lion body. The bodies lack the muscular tension of the Louvre sphinx, and in such details as the hair, ribs, paws and haunches, they show a stylization on the way to becoming a formula. The powerful modelling of the savage faces, howerver, is admirably in harmony with the carving of the lion bodies, and produces a rare integration of the human and animal aspects. It was the style of the sculptures of Ammenemes III, given great authority during the half century of his reign, that set the pattern for royal statuary for much of the remaining middle Kingdom.