Sekhmet the Bloodthirsty Gold protective amulet of Sekhmet, c. In Leontopolis (the city of the lion, in Greek) some sources inform that there were tamed lions and lionesses kept captive as living images of Sekhmet.ģ.
In Amenhotep III’s temple there have been found as many as 700 statues of Sekhmet.
This is the reason why so many different images of Sekhmet have survived to our days. Priests would perform rituals before a different statue of this Egyptian goddess every day, to appease her considerable anger.
If her anger was contained, it gave her worshippers control over their enemies and the vigor and strength to overcome weakness and illness. At some of the temples there, she was offered the blood of recently sacrificed animals, in order to placate her rage. She was also revered as the “Mistress of Asheru” in the Mut Temple, at Karnak, and her cult was strong in the regions of Luxor, Memphis, Letopolis, and all the Delta. They were adored as a group during the times of Egyptian history when Memphis was the capital of Egypt, especially the 18th and 19th dynasties, right until the reign of Seti I (715-664 BCE). During the New Kingdom, Ra, Sekhmet, and Nefertum became known as the “Memphite Triad”. She was also the firstborn of the sun god Ra. According to the Memphite Theology, an important text engraved in the famous Shabako Stone, the lioness Sekhmet was the wife of Ptah, patron god of artisans, and the mother of lotus god Nefertum. Sekhmet’s origins are unclear, but she seems to have been born in the Delta area, where lions were rarely seen and were thus regarded as mysterious and magical beasts. Please check your inbox to activate your subscription Thank you! During the Middle Kingdom, Sekhmet became associated with Bastet, the cat goddess, and absorbed the attributes and identity of Mut, goddess of creation. She is sometimes referred to in Egyptian texts as “She Before Whom Evil Trembles”, the “Mistress of Dread”, “The Mauler”, or the “Lady of Slaughter”.Īlthough she was born as an aspect of Hathor, over time both goddesses evolved into completely separate deities, mainly because their characters were so different from each other. Of her many epithets, all were equally terrifying. Sekhmet’s name comes from the adjective sekhem, meaning “powerful” or “mighty”, while the ending –t is a suffix for female names. Her head was crowned by a large solar disk, relating her to the sun god Ra, and an uraeus, the serpent associated with Egyptian kingship. She carried an ankh sign on her left hand and a long-stemmed lotus flower on her right hand.
Gods of sand mythology skin#
In Egyptian art, she was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, and sometimes her skin would be painted green just as Osiris was. But whenever Hathor was angry, she would take the form of Sekhmet, the Bloodthirsty, a frightening lioness who fed on the blood and fear of her enemies. She took several different forms, most of them very wholesome and protective of the people of Egypt.
But Hathor, goddess of love and music, had a far bigger following in ancient times. The most well-known is of course Isis, the Great Sorceress and mother of all gods. The Egyptian pantheon possessed a great number of powerful goddesses. 760-332 BCE, via the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Who Was the Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet? Sekhmet and Ptah, c. The Romans also adopted Gods from other cultures which they conquered.1. You can learn more about the similarities between Greek and Roman Gods here. Greek and Roman mythology often have the same Gods but with different names because many Roman Gods are borrowed from Greek mythology, often with different traits. It will be continually updated with additions, corrections and more information on each of the gods. This page is a list of the names of Roman gods in ancient mythology and their roles. Roman Gods A Complete List of Roman Gods, Their Names & Their Realms of Influence
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