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| goddess sekhmet |
The
statue of goddess Sekhmet
Material:
It
is made of black granite, called
in hieroglyphs mAT, quarried from Aswan.
F
Place
of discovery:
It was
discovered inside the temple of goddess Mut at the Karnak temples, on the east
bank of Thebes, among other 600 statues, all of them belong to goddess Sekhmet.
F
Date:
It dates to the New
Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of King Amenhotep III.
F Importance:
The
importance of this statue is due to the place of its discovery inside the
temple of goddess Mut, at the Karnak temples among other 600 statues for
goddess Sekhmet, as it indicates the strong relation between goddess Sekhmet
and goddess Mut who were identified with each other, particularly in the New
Kingdom.
F
Goddess
Sekhmet:
Goddess
Sekhmet was one of the most important lioness goddesses in ancient Egypt who
was known for her wild and violent qualities. She gathered between being
destructive and beneficent at the same time since she was responsible for the
spread and cure of diseases and epidemics. She was the goddess of violence and
war. She usually accompanied the kings during their battles as their mother, as
she spread terror everywhere. Her weapons were arrows, bows and fiery heat,
which comes out from her body as she represents the destructive heat of the sun.
She was
represented in various forms. However she was always represented in the form of
a complete lioness or a lady with a lioness' head surmounted with the sun-disc
and the cobra "uraeus", which were given to her by god Rea as a
reward for obeying his order according to the legend of the "Destruction
of Mankind".
§ Her
name:
Her name "Sxmt" means the
mighty or the violent one. The word reflects her character. The hieroglyphic
word "sxmt" is written
here with the "sxm" scepter, sign
of power and authority in addition to the letter "t" in
hieroglyphs, thus the meaning of her name corresponds with the form of its
writing.
§ Cult
center:
The main cult
center of goddess Sekhmet was Memphis as she was the wife of god Ptah and the mother
of the Lotus-god "Nefertum, with both she formed the Memphite triad.
§ Her
epithets:
Goddess
Sekhmet had various epithets, the most important of which are the great Sekhmet
"Sxwt
aAt", the Lady of the Two Lands "nbt tAwy",
the beloved of Ptah "mryt PtH", the Lady of War, the Lady of Fear "nbt snDw" and the lady
of flame because she represents the destructive heat of the sun.
§ Her
relation with other goddesses:
She was
identified with the cat-goddess Bastet "BAstt",
since goddess Sekhmet was the bad eye of Rea whereas goddess Bastet was
the milder. She was also identified with goddess Tefnut, the daughter of god
Atum, goddess Hathor and Mut.
It was
mentioned that goddess Sekhmet was responsible for the cure of diseases and
epidemics; therefore her priests were credited with the power of curing, as
most of them were medical physicians.
F
Description:
Goddess
Sekhmet is represented seated on a low-backed throne. She is shown in the form
of a lady with the lioness' head, which is surmounted with the sun-disc and the
cobra "uraeus", given to her by god Rea. The sculptor was skillful
enough in carving the features of the lioness' head and face, especially the
mane of the lioness, its ears, narrow eyes, broad nose and the whiskers under
its nose.
She wears a
tripartite hair wig; she also wears a massive usekh "wsh" collar,
decorating her chest. It has seven rows; the last one consists of beads.
She is shown
with a tight-fitting dress that reaches down till her ankles. It has two
shoulder straps exposing her arms and part of her chest. The dress is decorated
with two rosettes, on her breasts and a band of geometrical patterns under
them. She wears bracelets and anklets.
Her left arm
rests on her left thigh with a closed fist holding the ankh sign "symbol
of life", which is partly broken, while her right arm ' rests on her right
thigh with' an open palm.
Goddess
Sekhmet is shown barefoot, and her feet rest on a base incorporated into the
low-backed throne. The margins of the two sides of the throne are decorated
with bands of geometrical patterns. These two sides are decorated with the
sema-tawy "smA-tAwy"
sign, on a small scale inside a square, the sides of which are decorated with
bands of geometrical patterns like those of the margins of the two sides of the
throne.
), while that on the left-hand side is shown wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt (
). The next register shows a pair of "
), the lower register is depicted with a djed pillar of god Osiris (
), symbolizing stability and permanence, flanked by a pair of lapwings (
) (a kind of birds was known in Egyptian language as 
), which means "gold".