Statue of Goddess “Sekhmet”
Introduction:
(1) This
granite statue showing a woman body with lioness head belongs to the lioness
goddess Sekhmet.
(2) The
name of Sekhmet means the “Mighty Lady”. She was the main goddess of Memphis
and the wife of the creator god Ptah.
(3) Goddess
Sekhmet was goddess of war who used to accompany the king in his battles to
protect him and to destroy his enemies.
(4) As
a fierce goddess she was considered as the heat of the sun and her breath
caused the hot wind of the desert. Therefore, she was described as lady of
terror, lady of war and lady of the flame.
(5) Sekhmet
was also a healing goddess [2].
Therefore it was believed that king Amenhotep III made numerous statues for her
because he was very sick so he demanded from her to cure him.
The Statue:
(1) Looking
to the statue, Sekhmet is shown seating on low back throne.
(2) The
artist succeeded in making the details of the head and the facial features in
good way. These are represented in the hair, the face, the whisker شوارب
, the nose and the mouth.
(3) She
is wearing tripartite hair wig and long dress. She is wearing collar.
(4) On
either side of the throne is the famous sematawy sign [3]
symbol of the unification between Upper and Lower Egypt. This symbolized the
idea that the mighty goddess Sekhmet was keeping the unity of Upper and Lower
Egypt.
(5) There
are texts on the throne which described goddess Sekhmet as nbt-snDw nebet-sndjw
that
means Lady of Fear referring to her role in causing panic in the hearts of the
enemies and the evil creatures.
***********
[1]The statue was found in the temple of goddess Mut at Karnak.
[2]The son of goddess Sekhemt named god Nefertum was also god of healing.
[3]The sema-tawy consists of lung and water pipe tied with them the lotus
flower of Upper Egypt and the papyrus plant of Lower Egypt. The lotus was
called sSm the papyrus was called mnH in ancient Egypt.
تعليقات
إرسال تعليق