The Sphinx of the Naxians at Delphi was installed next to the Temple of Apollo around 560 BC and is one of the oldest dedications to the sanctuary. It stood atop a 10 metre column with one of the earliest ionic column capitals to have survived. It was discovered between the treasury and the stoa of the Athenians, where the most sacred dedications at Delphi were found. The sphinx is a creature found in art and mythology with a lion's body, the face of a woman and the wings of a bird, which the Greeks adopted from the Egyptians, and was thought of as a guardian, often flanking the entrances to temples.