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Hieracosphinx

Egyptian mythical beast

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated June 23, 2026
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The hieracosphinx (Ancient Greek: ἱερακόσφιγξ) is a mythical beast found in Egyptian sculpture and European heraldry. The god Haroeris ("Horus the Elder") was usually depicted as one. The name Hieracosphinx comes from the Greek Ιερακόσφιγξ, itself from ἱέραξ (hierax "hawk") + σφίγξ ("sphinx").

01Description

The Hieracosphinx has the head of a hawk and the body of a lion. The name was coined by Herodotus for the hawk-headed sphinxes that he saw in Egypt; the other being the ram-headed sphinx which Herodotus called Criosphinx (Ancient Greek: Κριόσφιγξ).

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Hieracosphinx”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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