Sfinge del faraone Amasis II

The sphinx, with its leonine body and human head, is depicted lying down as usual, with its front legs extended forward and the hind legs gathered under the body. The head represents the pharaoh's face, covered by the royal headdress called nemes, made of cloth, in parallel stripes with two bands descending on the chest; on the nape of the neck the hair is gathered, inside the cloth, in a long plait. On the forehead was the uraeus, a decoration in the form of a snake, exclusive to kings, which has not been preserved. On the chest is visible the collar with six rows of beads, called usekh.
An inscription still visible on the breast makes it possible to trace the identity of the pharaoh, Amasis II: his name was, however, erased following damnatio memoriae, a measure that entailed the destruction of all images and even the names of the person concerned.