Mythology

Dekhmet was the most important of Egypt’s leonine deities. As with many Egyptian goddesses, she had "A O distinct aspects to her personality - on the one .'.and a dangerous and destructive aspect, and on he other a protective and healing aspect. Her name means ‘powerful’ or ‘the female powerful one’ and veil suits the nature of the goddess as expressed in destructiveness, though it had equal implications ir her other aspects. From early times Sekhmet was regarded as the daughter of Re and she became

One of the most important manifestations of the ‘Eye’ of the sun god. In the version of the ‘Eye’ myth applying to Sekhmet (and also to Hathor), when Re became old and his human subjects began to plot against him he sent the fearsome goddess to punish them - leading to the near destruction of all humanity. Because Sekhmet was said to breathe fire against her enemies she was adopted by many Egyptian kings as a military patroness and symbol of their own power in battle, and bore martial titles such as ‘smiter of the Nubians’. Even the hot desert winds were said to be the ‘breath of Sekhmet’. The leonine goddess was also directly associated with plagues (often called the ‘messengers’ or ‘slaughterers of Sekhmet’), and this too could be tied to the king’s power. A passage in the Middle Kingdom story of Sinuhe states that the fear of the king overran foreign lands like Sekhmet in a time of pestilence. On the other hand, Sekhmet’s power was used to protect the king in an almost motherly manner, and as early as the Pyramid Texts it is stated that the goddess conceived the king (PT 262,2206), The goddess also had power to ward off pestilence and she could function as a healing deity, even being called ‘Sekhmet, mistress of life'. Sekhmet was associated with a number of other deities. She was regarded as the consort of Ptah and mother of Nefertem at Memphis where she eventually absorbed a number of other, more minor deities as ‘mistress of Ankhtawy’. Sekhmet was often closely associated with Hathor - especially as the Eye of Re - and was also linked with the Theban goddess

Granite statue of tin goddess Sekhmet depicted as a Imiess-headed woman.

New Kitigdom. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Some of the hundreds of statues of Sekhmet originally set up in the area of the temple of Mut at Karnak. New Kingdom.

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Mut, becoming in effect an aggressive manifestation or counterpait of that goddess, as well as being linked with Pakhet, the lioness goddess of Middle Egj'pt, and the cat goddess Bastet, among others.