Syncretism of Ancient God-Kings and Animal Gods: The Sphinx

Abstract

Mythology has a very important place in the life of the people of the Ancient Age and plays a primary role in determining the socio-economic and cultural structure of the society in which it exists. It is nothing but the primitive man's attempt to explain many events that he sees in nature and cannot make sense of by transforming them into a god, goddess or creature. Thus, the universe is filled with many imaginary creatures. These supernatural beings are transformed into immortal beings who resemble human beings or animals in their lives, actions and characters, but with superior characteristics. Egyptian mythology is in a similar situation. In this context, there are many gods and goddesses created by adding an animal head to a human body. As seen in many early societies, the pharaohs, the rulers of Egypt, are the representatives of the gods on earth. However, this representation went beyond words in a way not seen in any other civilization, and a creature defined as a sphinx was formed by adding the face of the pharaoh to the body of the lion representing the sun god Ra. Thus, the sphinx emerged as a "Syncretism" of the god kings and gods in animal form, and in this way the three elements; god-king-lion combined to form the sphinx.