Editing Sphinx (section)

== Freemasonry ==
[[File:Sphinx at Salt Lake Masonic Temple, Utah.JPG|thumb|Sphinx adopted as an emblem in [[Freemasonry|Mason]]ic architecture]]

The sphinx imagery has historically been adopted into [[Freemasonry|Mason]]ic architecture, symbolism and some of its [[Rite of Memphis-Misraim|rituals]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1995/11/05/from-satan-to-the-sphinx-the-masonic-mysteries-of-dcs-map/9bff53f2-0fa5-4149-bcae-6b8a2c77203d/|title=From Satan to The Sphinx: The Masonic Mysteries of D.C.'s Map|last=Freund|first=Charles Paul|date=5 November 1995|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-11-15}}</ref>

Among the Egyptians, sphinxes were placed at the entrance of the temples to guard their mysteries, by warning those who penetrated within that they should conceal a knowledge of them from the uninitiated. [[Jean-François Champollion|Champollion]] said that the sphinx became successively the symbol of each of the gods. The placement of the sphinxes expressed the idea that all the gods were hidden from the people, and that the knowledge of them, guarded in the sanctuaries, was revealed to initiates only.

As a Masonic emblem, the sphinx has been adopted as a symbol of mystery, and as such often is found as a decoration sculptured in front of Masonic temples, or engraved at the head of Masonic documents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-lost-symbols-masonic-temple-151145416/|title=The Lost Symbol's Masonic Temple|last=Taylor|first=David A.|website=Smithsonian|language=en|access-date=2019-11-16}}</ref>