 Anubis (jnpw) |
 Bastet (b3stt) |
 Hathor (ht-hrw) |
 Horus (hrw) |
 Khnum (khnwm) |
 Sekhmet (skhmt) |
 Set (sth) |
 Sobek (sbk) |
 Thoth (djhwty) |
skhmtOther Egyptian Gods
Sekhmet was one of the major state gods of the country, worshipped widely and represented in many temples. Sekhmet is portrayed as a woman with the head of a lioness, usually with a solar disk headdress. She is the Eye of Re, another aspect of Hathor, personifying righteous anger and justified destruction. Whatever action Sekhmet takes, it is right and appropriate application of force. Sekhmet was never chaotic or random, in the way other destructive gods like Seth could be. Sekhmet as a war goddess illustrates that war is the continuation of diplomacy by other means.
In one legend, Re learned that men were plotting against him, thinking him aged and decrepit. So he sent Hathor as the Eye of Re (that is, as Sekhmet) to destroy humanity. As Sekhmet hacked, maimed and eviscerated everyone the survivors begged Re for mercy, vowing renewed devotion. Re relented and called his Eye back to avoid killing all of humanity. But Sekhmet was raging in her slaughter and would not stop. So Re flooded the fields with beer, dyed red to look like blood. Sekhmet stopped to drink the blood and, becoming intoxicated, never completed her deadly mission.
Despite her well-known violent tendencies, Sekhmet is also a healer. As a destroyer she could cause disease and plague, but as a healer she could cure such ailments. She was the sponsor of surgeons.
Worship of Sekhmet was widespread, with the dual goals of appeals for healing and attempts to restrict her destructive tendencies to one's enemies. The sound of sistra was held to be soothing to her, so the sistrum became another symbol associated with Sekhmet. Probably her greatest fan was Amenhotep III (18th Dyasty), who had hundreds of statues of Sekhmet created. The British Museum acquired many of these statues and they are now placed all over the museum. Turn a corner on any random stairwell and you're likely to run into Sekhmet, with a little plate on her base indicating that she was from one of Amenhotep III's temples.
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| Sekhmet in the British Museum (photograph by Warren Brown) |
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| Sekhmet in the British Museum (photograph by Warren Brown) |
Sekhmet was the consort of Ptah. With their son Nefertum they were the Triad of Memphis. Like his mother Sekhmet, Nefertum was a solar deity and was represented as a lion. But he was the god of the lotus, representing the rising sun, and lacks Sekhmet's fierce attributes. He is the gentle morning sun, rather than the raging noonday sun, and was associated with perfumes and ointments.
Modern interpretations sometimes posit a close relationship between Sekhmet and Bastet, listing them as sisters, twins, or even avatars. But Bastet and Sekhmet were distinct goddesses with no particularly close relation. Bastet was also a lion goddess and a child of Re, so there was opportunity for confusion. And both Sekhmet and Bastet were considered consorts of Ptah, so one can find either goddess identified as the mother of Nefertum and of Maahes. Certainly the gentle Nefertum, patron of perfume, seems more related to Bastet than to Sekhmet. And Bastet's son Maahes would make a suitably fearsome offspring for Sekhmet. The alternative identification of Ptah's consort could be a geographic factor: Sekhmet being the preferred solar lionness Eye of Ra in the South and Bastet in the North. In the Ptolemaic period the confusion was made complete by the process of syncretism, or merging of disparate gods. Ptah's consort became Sekhmet-Bast-Re and the distinction between Sekhmet and Bastet became totally muddled.
Bibliography of Egyptology references used in these Stuffe & Nonsense Lore Pages.
