Mini-sphinx with a "smiley face" seen in Egypt

Archeologists have uncovered a sphinx-like sculpture and the remaining parts of a holy place in an old sanctuary in southern Egypt, the relics service says.

The antiquities were found close to the Hathor Sanctuary, perhaps of Egypt's best-safeguarded old site.

The limestone sphinx with its "smiley face and two dimples" is remembered to address Roman Ruler Claudius.

It is a lot more modest than the popular Sphinx in the Pyramids of Giza, which is 20m (66ft) high.

The relics were tracked down inside a two-level burial place in the sanctuary of Dendera in Qena Territory, 450km (280 miles) south of the capital of Cairo.

Sovereign Claudius, whom archeologists accept the sculpture's grinning elements might have a place with, broadened Roman rule into North Africa somewhere in the range of 41 and 54 Promotion.

Archeologists will concentrate on the markings on the stone section, which could uncover more data on the sculpture's character, the service said.

Next to the "perfectly and precisely cut" sphinx, archeologists likewise found a Roman-time stone chunk with demotic and hieroglyphic engravings.

The limestone place of worship incorporates a two-layer stage and a mud-block bowl from the Byzantine period.

A few specialists see these disclosures by the Egyptian government as an approach to drawing in additional travelers, to resuscitate its travel industry in the midst of a serious financial emergency in Egypt.