Near the building of the Academy of Arts, located on Vasilievsky Island in the northern capital, there is a cultural composition, which is one of the unofficial symbols of St. Petersburg. These are ancient statues, which are much older than the city itself on the Neva, - the sphinxes on the University Embankment. Their age, according to scientists, is three and a half thousand years.
There are fourteen such statues in the city. But the sphinxes on the University Embankment are the most famous. They are popular not only among tourists who visit the city with great pleasure, but also among Petersburgers.
Sphinxes located on the University Embankment were discovered in 1820 during excavations of the city of Thebes, which were carried out by an expedition led by the famous Greek Egyptologist Janis Atonazis with the money of the British Consulate. According to available information, these two monumental sculptures made of pink granite were located on the west bank of the Nile at the Colossi of Memnon and constituted the “guard” of the tomb of the pharaoh Aminhotep III, who ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. Due to the fact that the funds were allocated by England, Yanni (the nickname of the scientist) should be given most of the finds to the collection of the British Consul in this country - Henry Salt. Our sphinxes were sent there too. Salt moved the sculptures to Alexandria, closer to the sea coast, where they were spotted by the hero of the Napoleonic War of 1812, Andrei Muravyov, who immediately informed Nicholas the first about the need to acquire statues. Europe in those years was fascinated by Egyptology, so it was not difficult to convince the autocrat. By order of the emperor, 64 thousand rubles were allocated from the treasury, and the sphinxes were purchased. In May 1832, on a special fortified ship, they were delivered to St. Petersburg, the imperial capital.
Initially, it was not supposed that the sphinxes on the University Embankment would decorate the city, there should have been other sculptures - Klodt’s horses. But by the decision of the architect K. Ton, who designed the embankment, by 1834, special pedestals weighing 23 tons each were erected on it, on which 62-ton Egyptian statues were installed. Later on each pedestal an inscription was carved with information about them.
Sphinx is a mythological creature. This is a lion with a human head. Each sphinx on the University Embankment is an excellent representative of the symbol of courage, wisdom and dignity, which these animals are. The profile of each resembles the profile of the king. The head, which is crowned with a crown, is covered with a cape and shoulders, and a cobra flaunts on its forehead - a symbol of the patronage of the pharaohs. On the neck of the statue are six-row beads, which are also a sign of power. On the chest is a medallion with a carved name of Aminhotep III.
Sphinxes on the University Embankment, the photo of which is presented in the article, are an example of the magnificent creativity of ancient Egyptian stone cutters. Their image was captured not only in the works of artists. Geniuses of literature dedicated their poems to them.