The Sphinx

The sphinxes that guard the entrance to the  temple were cast in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, by the Federal-Seaboard Terra Cotta Company (which ceased to operate in 1968) and shipped to El  Paso by truck. From start to finish, with the two sphinxes safely on their bases, took a period of 10 months, with final placement on September 26, 1966. 

Each sphinx is 10 feet long and weighs 4,000 pounds. The official dedication took place at the Scottish Rite Reunion on  October 20, 1966.

Of the nine Scottish Rite Bodies in Texas, El Paso was the first one to have sphinxes, and they subsequently arranged for a pair to be given by the El Paso Bodies to the Waco Consistory.

The El Paso Scottish Rite sphinxes are the largest single-cast terra cotta sculptures in the world. Terra Cotta is a clay-based, waterproof, fired, and unglazed ceramic. These were based on the sphinxes outside the  Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, D.C.