Two statues of Sekhmet in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin

In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet and Sakhmet; Greek name: Sacmis), was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs. Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty moved the capital of Egypt to Memphis, the centre for her cult was moved as well. A similar cult in Lower Egypt of another warrior goddess who also was depicted as a lioness, then became merged into Sekhmet. Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1295 KB) Beschreibung Object in the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin (Egyptian museum, building of the New Museum), Berlin. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1295 KB) Beschreibung Object in the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin (Egyptian museum, building of the New Museum), Berlin. ... Bust of Nefertiti, Ägyptisches Museum The Egyptian Museum of Berlin (German: Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung) is home to one of the worlds most important collections of Ancient Egyptian artefacts. ... Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. ... Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. ... For other uses, see Memphis. ... Map of Lower and Upper Egypt Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. ...

As Lower Egypt had been conquered by Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was seen as the more powerful of the two warrior goddesses, the other, Bast, being the similar warrior goddess of Lower Egypt. Consequently, it was Sekhmet who was seen as the Avenger of Wrongs, and Scarlet Lady, a reference to blood, as the one with bloodlust. She also was seen as a special goddess for women, ruling over menstruation. Sekhmet also was identified in some later cults as a daughter of the sun god, Ra, when his cult merged with and supplanted the worship of Horus, the son of Hathor. In Egyptian mythology, Bast (also spelt Ubasti, and Pasht) is an ancient goddess, worshipped at least since the Second Dynasty, for whom the centre of her cult was in Per-Bast (Bubastis in greek), which was named after her. ... Killer instinct, in human behavior, is a reference to the human propensity to kill, murder. ... Menstrual cycle. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Horus (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Her name suits her function, and means (one who is) powerful, and she also was given titles such as the (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, Mistress of Dread, and the Lady of Slaughter. Sekhmet was believed to protect the pharaoh in battle, stalking the land, and destroying the pharaoh's enemies with arrows of fire, her body being said to take on the bright glare of the midday sun, gaining her the title Lady of Flame. Indeed it was said that death and destruction were balsam for her warrior's heart and the hot desert winds were believed to be her breath. Traditional target arrow and replica medieval arrow. ... For other uses, see Fire (disambiguation). ... Sol redirects here. ... Balsam (pronounced balm) is a term used for various pleasantly scented plant products. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Image from a ritual Menat necklace, depicting a ritual being performed before a statue Sekhmet on her throne, she is flanked by the goddess Wadjet as the cobra and the goddess Nekhbet as the white vulture, symbols of lower and upper Egypt respectively who always were depicted on the crown of Egypt also, circa 870 B.C., Berlin, Altes Museum, catalogue number 23733

In order to placate Sekhmet's wrath, her members of her priesthood performed a ritual before a different statue of the goddess on each day of the year. This practice resulted in many images of the goddess being preserved. It is estimated that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet once stood in one funerary temple alone, that of Amenhotep III, on the west bank of the Nile. It was said that her priests protected her statues from theft or vandalism by coating them with anthrax. Sekhmet also was seen as a bringer of disease as well as the provider of cures to such ills. The name "Sekhmet" literally became synonymous with physicians and surgeons during the Middle Kingdom. In antiquity, many members of Sekhmet's priesthood often were considered to be on the same level as physicians. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Part of a Menat depicting Hariesis standing in front of the goddess Sekhmet, flanked by the gods Wadjet and Nekhbet. ... In Egyptian mythology, Buto (papyrus colored--referring to the color of the cobra) was a snake (especially cobra) goddess and patron of the oracle in the city of the same name. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet (of Nekheb) was an early, predynastic, local vulture-goddess, patron of the city of Nekheb. ... Orders Falconiformes (Fam. ... Nebmaatre The Lord of Truth is Re[2] Nomen Amenhotep Hekawaset Amun is Satisfied, Ruler of Thebes[1] Horus name Kanakht Emkhaimaat The strong bull, appearing in truth Nebty name Semenhepusegerehtawy One establishing laws, pacifying the two lands Golden Horus Aakhepesh-husetiu Great of valour, smiting the Asiatics Consort(s... The Nile (Arabic: , transliteration: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. ... The Doctor by Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... Surgeon may refer to: a practitioner of surgery the moniker of British electronic music producer and DJ, Anthony Child; see Surgeon (musician) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Middle Kingdom is a period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, roughly between 2030 BC and 1640 BC. The period comprises two phases, the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the 12th Dynasty...

She was envisioned as a fierce lioness, and in art, was depicted as such, or as a woman with the head of a lioness, who was dressed in red, the colour of blood. Sometimes the dress she wears exhibits a rosetta pattern over each nipple, an ancient leonine motif, which can be traced to observation of the shoulder-knot hairs on lions. Tame lions were kept in temples dedicated to Sekhmet at Leontopolis. For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ... This article is about anatomical structure. ... Leontopolis is the Greek name for the Ancient Egyptian city known as Taremu in ancient times and as Tell al Muqdam today. ...

To pacify Sekhmet, festivals were celebrated at the end of battle, so that the destruction would come to an end. On such occasions, the Egyptians danced and played music to soothe the wildness of the goddess and drank great quantities of beer ritually to imitate the drunken goddess.^[1] Participation in the festival was great, including the priesthood and the population. In a later myth developed around an annual drunken Sekhmet festival, Ra, by then the sun god of Upper Egypt, created her from his fiery eye, to destroy mortals who conspired against him (Lower Egypt). In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity, so Ra tricked her by turning the Nile red like blood (the Nile turns red every year when filled with silt) so that Sekhmet would drink it. However, the red liquid was not blood, but beer mixed with pomegranate juice so that it resembled blood, making her so drunk that she gave up slaughter and became and aspect of the gentle Hathor. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 399 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1009 × 1516 pixel, file size: 683 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Antiquité égyptienne, la déesse Sekhmet (Égypte). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 399 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1009 × 1516 pixel, file size: 683 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Antiquité égyptienne, la déesse Sekhmet (Égypte). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Sun cults be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses, see Beer (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

After Sekhmet's worship moved to Memphis, as Horus and Ra had been identified as one another under the name Ra-Herakhty—when the two religious systems were merged and Ra became seen as a form of Atum, known as Atum-Ra—so Sekhmet, as a form of Hathor, was seen as Atum's mother as Hathor had been the mother of the sun, giving birth anew to it every day. She then was seen as the mother of Nefertum, the youthful form of Atum who emerged in later myths, and so was said to have Ptah, Nefertum's father, as a husband when most of the goddesses acquired counterparts as paired deities. For other uses, see Horus (disambiguation). ... History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ... In Egyptian mythology, Nefertum (also Nefertum, Nefer-Tem, Nefer-Temu) is the god of the lotus plant and a solar deity associated with the sunrise. ... Ptah In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelt Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land. ...

Although Sekhmet became identified as an aspect of Hathor, over time both evolved back into separate deities because the characters of the two goddess were so vastly different. Later the creation goddess Mut, the great mother, gradually became absorbed into the identities of the patron goddesses, merging with Sekhmet, and also sometimes with Bast. For other uses, see Mut (disambiguation). ...

Notes

1. ^ "Sex and booze figured in Egyptian rites", archaeologists find evidence for ancient version of ‘Girls Gone Wild’. From MSNBC, Oct 30, 2006

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sekhmet

Sekhmet: Lioness Goddess & 'Eye of Ra' Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...

• Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Sekhmet
• Temple of Sekhmet, in Cactus Springs, Nevada
• "Ancient war goddess statues unearthed in Egypt", archeologists unearth six statues of the lion-headed war goddess Sekhmet in temple of pharaoh Amenhotep III. 2006-03-06

v • d • e Ancient Egypt-related topics

Architecture · Art · Chronology · Cuisine · Dynasties · Geography · History · Mathematics · Medicine · Religion · Pharaohs · People · Language · Sites · Technology · Writing Cactus Springs is a small community in Clark County, Nevada located on US Highway 95, about sixty miles northwest of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... Image File history File links Egypt. ... For at least ten thousand years, the Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations in the world which developed a vast array of structures known as Ancient Egyptian architecture. ... This article has been tagged since January 2007. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... An Egyptian couple harvesting from a painting in the tomb from the early Ramessid period. ... This page lists articles on dynasties of Ancient Egypt. ... Main article: Ancient Egypt Archaeological evidence indicates that a distinct culture was developing in the Nile valley from before 5000 BC. What is now called the Pharaonic Period is dated from around 3100 BC, when Egypt became a unified state, until its survival as an independent state ceased in 332... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. ... Map of Ancient Egypt List of Ancient Egyptian sites, throughout all of Egypt and Nubia Sites are listed with their classical name whenever possible, else their modern name and last if no other available their ancient name. ... Ancient Egyptian technology is a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. ... The writing systems of ancient Egypt include: Egyptian hieroglyphs Cursive hieroglphs Hieratic Demotic the Coptic alphabet Other texts discovered in Egypt and dating to the period before Islam include those written in: the Greek alphabet the Latin alphabet the Cuneiform script the Old Persian cuneiform script Tifinagh the South Arabian... Egyptology · Egyptologists · Egyptology portal The Great Sphinx of Giza against Khafres Pyramid at the Giza pyramid complex. ... Egyptologist is the designation given to an archaeologist or historian who specialises in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ...