Is The Sphinx a Cherubim ?

Is the Sphinx a Cherubim ? According to some writings, some Cherubims had a face of a Man and a body of a Lion. Could this be what the Sphinx actually is ?

If you look at the sphinx the head is much too small for the body, "they" (dunno heard it on the discovery channel) think the head was actually a lion to begin with, but eventually was changed to the likeness of a pharohs son(?) or a pharoahs face. not sure.

The true sphinx of greek mythology is this: The head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a bird.

If you could not solve the riddle of the sphinx it would kill you. All who crossed its path died, except for one, a man named Oedipus. He answered this riddle from the sphinx:

"What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?"

On another note I saw in a Masonic Bible titled, "The Bible and King Solomon's Temple in Masonry" of very interesting artwork reproductions of what Solomon's Temple must have looked like. At the Great Porch of the Temple there were six giant sized male headed sphinx, with wings. The heads look Assyrian . The East Gate of the Temple had two of these sphinx. The Porch of Judgement of the Temple had numerous stone lions situated around that room.

Originally posted by lostinspace
"What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?"

MAN

Originally posted by Brett

Originally posted by lostinspace
"What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?"

MAN

No, it could be a circus dog that lost a leg in an accident during the day, after the noon performance of walking around on two legs.

I think the Sphinx originally had wings, this is one of the reasons it looks to be out of proportion. The wings would have given it a fullness.

the sphinx looks too small because it, like most rocks, has been under the state of erosion. it use to have much bigger back, but erosion has caused most of it to fall off or decay.

There were wings covering the back. If it was because of erosion the head would be in similar shape. They probably were broken or blown off.
If you invision the Sphinx to be like a Large bird sitting, the Head and Body would be in correct proportion.

It could very well be true. The sphinx was the only monument that remained after the flood in the days of Noah. It holds secrets that only a choosen few will be privilaged to understand..

Originally posted by Lastday Prophet
Is the Sphinx a Cherubim ? According to some writings, some Cherubims had a face of a Man and a body of a Lion. Could this be what the Sphinx actually is ?

No.

In the first place, that's not the Biblical description of Cherubim. Although they're not human, the Sphynx is short quite a few body parts to be a cherubim:

Ezekiel portrayed the Cherub as having a human-like body, with four arms, hands, and legs, but with some remarkable non-human features- that is, the head had four faces, a calf, an eagle, a lion and a human. It possessed two legs whose feet were cloven like a bull's. It had four wings and was accompanied by a spinning wheel capable of flight.

Note that there's no human-like body, no four hands, no four arms, no four legs, no four faces (it's missing the calf, eagle, and lion) and it's missing four wings as well. You might try to argue that the wings fell off (which wouldn't be correct because there's no evidence that they were ON there in the first place) but you can't argue that the other arms, legs, hands, and faces all fell off very conveniently.

The Sphynx, in concept, is somewhat similar to Babylonian carvings showing a royal head with the winged body of a bull: www.zyworld.com...

These aren't Cherubim, either (at least, not in the Christian mythos.) They're guardians.

If you do a little research Byrd, you will find that there is a difference between a Cherub, and a Cherubim. All did not have four faces.

A little further research and you will find there were winged Sphinx found in Egypt.

This theory is not as far fetched as you would suppose.

For a certainty the Spinx is not a animal found anywhere on the earth and we know that they made images of Gods and other animals that they had seen.

You can find a heavenly creature very similar to the Sphinx in the bible.

If the Sphinx was not a image of a creature upon the earth, it had to be a image of a creature from above the earth.

Since I personally do not believe in the existance of any UFO's of any type, it brings me to one conclusion. It must be a heavenly creature.

The Sphynx is an allegory of the cusp of Virgo (the virgin) and Leo (the Lion) and was built before the Hebrew bible was written...

Originally posted by Byrd

Originally posted by Lastday Prophet
Is the Sphinx a Cherubim ? According to some writings, some Cherubims had a face of a Man and a body of a Lion. Could this be what the Sphinx actually is ?

No.

In the first place, that's not the Biblical description of Cherubim. Although they're not human, the Sphynx is short quite a few body parts to be a cherubim:

Ezekiel portrayed the Cherub as having a human-like body, with four arms, hands, and legs, but with some remarkable non-human features- that is, the head had four faces, a calf, an eagle, a lion and a human. It possessed two legs whose feet were cloven like a bull's. It had four wings and was accompanied by a spinning wheel capable of flight.

Note that there's no human-like body, no four hands, no four arms, no four legs, no four faces (it's missing the calf, eagle, and lion) and it's missing four wings as well. You might try to argue that the wings fell off (which wouldn't be correct because there's no evidence that they were ON there in the first place) but you can't argue that the other arms, legs, hands, and faces all fell off very conveniently.

I agree with Byrd. Ezekiel clearly states they have four faces. Furthermore, if you take Ezekiel's account in Chapter 1 and compare it to that in Chapter 10 you find that the "Cherub" is the "ox"...

Chapter 1 four faces are listed as man, lion, ox, eagle.

Chapter 10 four faces are listed as cherub, man, lion, eagle.

To rectify these two accountings that agree in other details we must conclude that "cherub=ox".


[edit on 11-17-2004 by Valhall]

Originally posted by Lastday Prophet
If you do a little research Byrd, you will find that there is a difference between a Cherub, and a Cherubim. All did not have four faces.

A little further research and you will find there were winged Sphinx found in Egypt.

This theory is not as far fetched as you would suppose.

For a certainty the Spinx is not a animal found anywhere on the earth and we know that they made images of Gods and other animals that they had seen.

You can find a heavenly creature very similar to the Sphinx in the bible.

I would be more inclined to equate the Sphinx to the Griffon-type beast Daniel describes in Chapter 7:

"The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it."

Dosn't the the Sphinx by the most conservative estimations of its age easily predate the storys of the old testament. If the sphinx predates Judeo-Christian lore than it is most likely not conncected to Cherubim. Correct me if i'm wrong but dosn't Egypt outdate Judiasm therefore it would make sense that the Old Testament is somewhat moot in examining the architecture of ancient Egypt.

Originally posted by IndianaJoe
Dosn't the the Sphinx by the most conservative estimations of its age easily predate the storys of the old testament. If the sphinx predates Judeo-Christian lore than it is most likely not conncected to Cherubim. Correct me if i'm wrong but dosn't Egypt outdate Judiasm therefore it would make sense that the Old Testament is somewhat moot in examining the architecture of ancient Egypt.

It's not moot at all. Finding commonality in the two is of value. It doesn't particularly matter which came first for this discussion. The real intrigue and area of potential value is in finding that they both point to the same thing.

All cherubs do not have four faces and four hands. Cherubs and Cheribims(plural) and Seraphims are "Winged Angels" of different sorts and styles. Some have one face, some have two faces and some have four faces, all have wings. Not all angels have wings.

Eze 41:18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;

This was said of Lucifer, before he became satan, He was the "Annointed Cherub That Covereth"

Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.


Ex 25:20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. The face of one cherub looking at the face of the other cherub, each had "one" face

1Ki 8:7 For the cherubims spread forth "their two wings" over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

Ps 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. [be moved: Heb. stagger]

Isa 6:1 � In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. [his�: or, the skirts thereof]
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings;with twain(two wings) he covered "his face" (one face, not plural) , and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, "and the third beast had a face as a man", and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
8 � And the four beasts hadeach of them "six wings" about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Here we clearly see that not all Cherubs/ Cherubims Had four faces and four wings.

I agree that the Sphynx considerably predates Judaism, so therefore the question should be "are biblical Cherubim based on the Sphynx", the other way round seems illogical...

What proof do you have that the Sphinx outdates Judaism ?
None of us were here two or three thousand years ago so where does "Proof" come from ? a document some man wrote ? who says that it is true?
All that you read is not always factual. I could say that the earth is One Zillion years old, does that make it true ? How can you prove me wrong ?

Thats no argument at all...

Thats like saying, "neither you nor I have been to Egypt, how do we know it exists"...

Well one thing that I know for certain is that Egypt exists in spite of what we may or may not think, as do erosion patterns on the Sphynx. Egyptologist, John Anthony West has determined through careful study of this erosion that the Sphynx is at least 8,000 to 10,000 years old.

With all due respect I'm far more impressed by his published research than by the off the cuff estimate of a punter...



[edit on 23-11-2004 by Flange Gasket]