One Head, Two Bodies: A Double-Bodied Sphinx with in a 4th Century BC Scythian Culture as a Phenomenon of Selective Borrowing

The appearance and spread of the image of the bicorporate sphinx in Scythia of 4th century BC can be regarded as an example of selective borrowing from ancient iconography. In the Greek world, this type is encountered rarely, but it gained considerable currency among the Scythians of the Northern Black Sea region. Its spread coincides with the period of expansion of the fantastic bestiary among the Scythians and the increasing complexity of the funerary rite of the Scythian elite. The predominance of finds in female burials indicates that this image was part of the circle of signs associated specifically with women’s high social status. The doubling of the body enhanced the image’s visual expressiveness and protective nature. More complex interpretations of the worldview are not supported by the sources and cannot be considered proven.