The rise of Egyptomania coincided with the Romantic era, when, during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, many Europeans saw the monuments of Ancient Egypt with their own eyes. The international sensation created demand for the neo-Egyptian style in architecture and the decorative arts. This style found expression in the architecture of Spain, Italy, and France and, most notably, in the capital of the Russian Empire — Saint Petersburg.
At that time the Russian officer Andrey Muravyov set out on a journey to the East. In Alexandria he learned about the sale of a sphinx from Thebes. The statue made such a strong impression on him that he wrote to the Russian ambassador Alexander Ribopierre in Constantinople proposing to buy the sphinxes, attaching drawings of the sculptures to the letter. The ambassador forwarded the letter to the Vice-Chancellor, Count Karl Nesselrode, asking him to request the emperor's permission for such an expensive purchase. Nicholas I was then visiting Prussia, so the correspondence was greatly delayed. But eventually the emperor read the letter and sent an inquiry to the Academy of Arts about the advisability of the acquisition.
Under Europe's influence, Egyptomania was also actively developing in Russia. In 1826 the so-called Egyptian Bridge was opened in Saint Petersburg, and in 1829 the Egyptian Gates were erected in Tsarskoye Selo. In 1826 the "Egyptian Museum" opened in the Kunstkamera. The president of the Academy of Arts, Alexey Olenin, was also passionate about Egyptology and answered the emperor in the affirmative. His reply to Nicholas I was sent back to Prussia, where consent was finally obtained.
In the spring of 1832, the twenty-three-ton lions bearing the face of an ancient pharaoh were sent to Saint Petersburg on the ship "Good Hope".
The sculptures stayed for two years in the courtyard of the Academy of Arts, and by that time a granite pier had been constructed on the Neva opposite the Academy building to a design by Konstantin Thon. Initially, bronze compositions "The Taming of the Horse by Man" by Pyotr Klodt were planned to adorn it. But that work did not fit the allocated budget, and in April 1834 the Egyptian statues were installed on granite pedestals at the pier on the University Embankment.
The pedestals bear the inscription "Sphinx from ancient Thebes in Egypt transferred to the city of Saint Petersburg in 1832." The statues show many hieroglyphs, which were translated in 1912 by the Egyptologist and later academician Vasily Vasilyevich Struve. These inscriptions are the full name of Amenhotep III, the god incarnate on earth: "May Horus live, the Mighty Bull, who shone forth in truth, who established laws, who pacified the Two Lands. Golden Horus, bull of the kings, conqueror of the Nine Bows. King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of both lands, Nebmaatre, offspring of Ra. Son of Ra, his beloved Amenhotep — ruler of Thebes, image of Ra before both Lands. Horus — benevolent lord of eternity, to whom are given life, stability, happiness, health" — royal self-deification reached unprecedented proportions in the time of Pharaoh Amenhotep.
Initially the figures of the ancient monsters provoked disapproval among the townspeople, but soon the pier with the sphinxes became one of the city's favorite spots and spawned new urban legends.
