Sacred Fish and Sneaky Sphinx: The Creatures of Ancient Egyptian Myth

What comes to mind when you think of ancient Egypt? Pyramids, mummies, pharaohs? What about the Great Sphinx of Giza, a 240 ft long, 66 ft tall and 62 ft wide monument in the shape of, you guessed it, a sphinx?

The sphinx is defined by Britannica as a 'mythological creature with a lion's body and a human head'. It is arguably one of the most famous creatures of ancient Egyptian myth and is also found in ancient Greek art and legend.

The Great Sphinx of Giza is the earliest known depiction of the creature, although there is disagreement amongst scholars as to when exactly it was created, and who ordered its creation. The most widely accepted theory is that it was carved during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, who ruled ancient Egypt from 2558-2532 BCE. If true, the head of the sphinx is probably intended to be a likeness of Pharaoh Khafre.

In Egyptian mythology, the sphinx symbolises strength, wisdom and protection, and was usually associated with Ra, a sun god and one of the main gods in the Egyptian pantheon. It was often depicted on funerary monuments, suggesting that it was seen as a kind of protector and guardian for the dead. 

The ancient Greek sphinx is very different to its ancient Egyptian counterpart. For example, the ancient Greek sphinx is typically depicted with wings while early portrayals of the ancient Egyptian sphinx, including the Great Sphinx of Giza, have no wings. 

Appearances aren't everything, though, and the ancient Greek sphinx appears to have been more malicious than its Egyptian cousin as well. In legends surrounding Oedipus, a mythical king of Thebes, a sphinx stops travellers on their way to Thebes and eats everyone who cannot solve its riddle. When Oedipus is the first to solve it, the sphinx ends its own life either by eating itself or throwing itself off a cliff, or is killed by Oedipus, depending on the myth.

However, the sphinx isn't the only creature in ancient Egyptian myth. In fact, ancient Egypt seems to have been rather fond of its fish. Abtu and Anat were sacred fish that accompanied Ra during his journey across the sky at sunrise, and in certain regions of ancient Egypt, particularly in the city of Oxyrhynchus, they worshipped oxyrhynchus fish (a term that is used to refer to many different fish species, but in this case refers to a kind of freshwater elephantfish).

A particularly mysterious creature from ancient Egyptian myth is the Set animal, or Sha. Associated, unsurprisingly, with Set, the ancient Egyptian god of deserts, storms, violence, disorder, chaos and foreigners, the Set animal has no confirmed zoological counterpart. There is a general agreement among Egyptologists that Sha was an entirely mythical being that never existed, although Egyptologist Ken Moss suggested that it was an ancient saluki, a breed of sighthound. 

There is evidence to suggest that ancient Egypt also had beliefs surrounding griffins, a mythical creature found in legends from ancient cultures in many countries including Persia, Assyria and Greece. Griffins have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, and are found in numerous ancient Egyptian temple carvings and sculptures. Like the sphinx, they were associated with the sun god Ra and likely had a protective role in Egyptian myths.

Ancient Egyptian mythology is rife with creatures, ranging from the majestic to the terrifying. Animal worship was extremely common in ancient Egypt, and many deities in their pantheon were often depicted as a human with the head of an animal. From Sha to the sphinx, they seem to have had a mythical creature for every occasion, including a few that were adopted by other ancient civilisations later down the line. 

SOURCES:

• Dimri, Bipin, 'The Mysterious "Set": An Ancient Egyptian Cryptid?', Historic Mysteries, (2021)

• Mark, Joshua J., 'The Great Sphinx of Giza', World History Encyclopaedia, (2016)

• Moss, Ken, 'The Seth-Animal: A Dog and Its Master', Ancient Egypt, Vol. 22, no. 1, (Current Publishing, 2009)

• 'Sacred Fish', Egypt Museum

• 'Sphinx', Britannica, (2025)

• Suhr, Elmer G., 'The Sphinx', Folklore, Vol. 81 (2), (Taylor and Francis, 1970) 

• 'The Griffin in Ancient Egypt: A Fusion of Lion and Bird', Mythology Worldwide, (2024)

• 'The Sphinx: A Journey Through Myth and Legend', Egypt Mythology, (2024)