The Forum
Is the Dama de Elche, one of the masterpieces of ancient Iberian art, really a fake?
An Egyptian Pharaoh in Spain?
One photograph in “Warriors, Wolves & Women: The Art of the Iberians,” AO 06:03, by Ricardo Olmos, especially intrigued me: the image of a seventh-century B.C. sphinx. The sphinx appears to be wearing the double crown of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Nothing was mentioned in the text about this astonishing detail, so I’d like to know if, indeed, it is the double crown.
Richard Firsten
Miami, Florida
According to Ricardo Olmos, the bronze sphinx is indeed wearing the double crown of ancient Egypt. During the orientalizing period (c. 700–550 B.C.), the art of Iberia was heavily influenced by Near Eastern iconography. Phoenician traders in search of precious metals brought with them objects from Egypt and elsewhere, creating a new international artistic style on the peninsula.—Ed.
Apologies to the Bull!