Statues Of Lion-Headed Sekhmet Egyptian Goddess Of War Discovered

MessageToEagle.com – Archaeologists have discovered several statues of the ancient Egyptian goddess of war, Sekhmet, which date back to the era of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1410-1372 B.C.) in the city of Luxor in southern Egypt.

Sekhmet (Sakhmet), “The Mighty One,” is one of the oldest known and important Egyptian deities. She was a lioness-headed goddess of war, destruction, plagues and healing. As a Solar deity, she is sometimes called the daughter of the Sun god Ra and is often associated with the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the Solar disk and the uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty.

Excavating at the temple of Amenhotep III, in the area of Kom al-Hitan on the west bank of the Nile, German archaeologists uncovered several of her statues.

The head of the ministry’s Egyptology department, Mahmoud Afifi, said that three Sekhmet statues were found intact, and represent the goddess with the head of a lioness and a female body sitting on a throne and holding the Ankh symbol in her hand, which represents life in ancient Egypt.

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The German experts also discovered the upper part of a statue, lower parts of two other statues and two parts of the trunk of Sekhmet standing as she holds a papyrus scepter in her left hand and the Ankh symbol in her right hand.

The German team also discovered a 77-centimeter high statue of Amenhotep III.

It is not the first time statues of the lion-headed goddess have been found at this area. In March 2013, archeologists found 14 statues of Sekhmet in the same temple. In February 2015, archaeologists found two black granite statues of Sekhmet at almost the same place.

It remains a mystery why Pharaoh Amenhotep built so many statues of Sekhmet. Some say that the pharaoh cherished Sekhmet and believed in her healing powers and that is why he surrounded himself with so many figures of the goddess.

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