Fearsome Sekhmet: Lion-Headed Egyptian Goddess And Sister Of Ptah

A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – Known in ancient Egypt as Sekhmet, she was frequently portrayed with a lion head surmounted by a uraeus and a solar disk.

Like many other Egyptian goddesses, Sekhmet had two contradictory aspects to her complex personality.

’Seti and Sekhmet at Abydos.’ Relief depicts Sekhmet holding the “ankh” sign before the mouth of pharaoh Seti I. The sign is entwined in her “menat” necklace. Period of the 19th Dynasty.

As the lion-headed goddess, the fearsome Sekhmet was destructive and dangerous in nature, which perfectly conforms to her name, which means “powerful” or “the female powerful one”.

But this remarkable deity was also known to have healing and protective role.

Sekhmet – the sister of Ptah, to whom she eventually got married, was believed to be the daughter of the sun god Re, and one of the most important manifestations of the “Eye” of Ra.

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