hieracosphinx
Aug. 25th, 2015 07:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordhieracosphinx - n., a sphinx with the head of a hawk.
With the usual body of a lion. This is another Herodotus coinage for describing Egyptian religious sculpture (from Greek hierax, hawk). Unlike the criosphinx, the hieracosphinx was adopted by European heraldry, though not as a common charge.
---L.
With the usual body of a lion. This is another Herodotus coinage for describing Egyptian religious sculpture (from Greek hierax, hawk). Unlike the criosphinx, the hieracosphinx was adopted by European heraldry, though not as a common charge.
---L.
