Sphinx found by archaeologists in Galilee, Israel
Experts mystified as to how the precious relic, the first found anywhere, came to be in Galilee
Part of an ancient Egyptian king's sphinx has been uncovered at a dig in northern Israel, with researchers struggling to understand how the unexpected find ended up there.
The broken granite sphinx statue, including the paws and some of the mythical creature's forearms, was displayed on Tuesday at the Tel Hazor archaeological site in Galilee. It is the first such find in the region.
Its discovery also marked the first time researchers had found a statue dedicated to Egyptian ruler Mycerinus, who ruled about 2500BC and was builder of one of the three Giza pyramids, an expert said.
"This is the only monumental Egyptian statue ever found in the Levant, today's Israel, Lebanon and Syria," said Amnon Ben-Tor, an archaeology professor at the Hebrew University in charge of the Tel Hazor dig.
"It is also the only sphinx of this particular king known; not even in Egypt was a sphinx of that particular king found."
Ben-Tor said that beside Mycerinus' name, carved in hieroglyphics between the forearms, there were symbols reading "beloved by the divine souls of Heliopolis".
"This is the temple in which the sphinx was originally placed," Ben-Tor said of Heliopolis, an ancient city which lies north of today's Cairo.