Description
There are two types of Sekhmet statues. There are some standing statues and there are some seated statues. Sekhmet statues are made of black grandiorite with different types of stones. Since there are over 57 types of grandiorite found in the statues this opens new perspectives of the workshops and of how the statues were made. The statues may have not all been made by the same sculptor since they vary in size. The statues consist of litany stone that is used to help appease the goddess.
Sekhmet statues measurements vary depending if you're looking at a standing or seated statue that is complete. Average measurements of a Sekhmet statue are a height of 210 cm (82 11/16 in.), width of base 47.5 cm (18 11/16 in.) and d 95.5 cm (375/8 in.). The statues can be twice the height of someone or taller and can weigh two tons.
The statues leave people in awe with their fiery eye of Re and jaw structure of the goddess Sekhmet. The statue is a zoomorphic form of a lioness. Egyptian artists were great at putting human and animal forms together in equal power and truth. The head of the statues have a sun disk and Uraeus on the top which is connected by a dove tail groove. The sun disk would've been placed in the back pillar. There are rare depictions of the statue wearing a double crown representing the fusion of Sekhmet and Mut. The statues are made in pieces and we know that from the fragments and unfinished statues. The statue wears a tight fitting gown/garment and the bodice rises up to the breasts. The upper body is nude. There is a broad collar on the shoulders and it is visible between the dress straps. The aegis is represented in the metal collar. The gown is tight all the way down to the legs below the hem and it's wide. The dress is meant to be the color red and would represent mistress aspect and symbolize lower Egypt and warlike nature. Sekhmet statues have accessories like ankle bands and bracelets. The dress is conservative for the time period. There is a daisy over each breast. This daisy can be seen on Queen Tia, Queen Tiy and on the private people of Amenhotep III. The large rosette over the greats are meant to reflect patterns in the shoulder hair of lions and another theory is that they reflect astronomical symbolism of the shoulder star of the constellation Leo in Egyptian astronomical paintings.
Sekhmet statues wear a wig arranged in separate strands like real hair. The wig falls down to the breasts. The Sekhmet statues show the anatomy of the Sekhmet. They have a low rolling back. The ruff on the lions face from the statue is female and is different from the ruff of a male. There are detailed carved whiskers, furrows, hair tiffs and elaborate ankh signs. On the standing statues the whiskers and papyrus scepter are more detailed. The standing Sekhmet statues all hold a papyrus scepter in the left hand and the ankh sign which is the symbol of life in the right hand. The papyrus the statue holds is a symbol of her native lower Egypt and is meant to unite upper and lower Egypt. The seated statues all hold the ankh sign on the left hand and their right hand flat on the thigh. The seated statues feet are always together. The standing statues should have an inscribed base but is sometimes found missing. The seated statues all are on Royal thrones similar to what kings would use. The kings name is on the front of the throne and is dedicated to Sekhmet. The thrones are ornamented on the sides of the seated statues. The statues throne include hieroglyphics and a regulated border pattern and lower corner of the rectangle design. The thrones are inscribed with the names of past kings not just Amenhotep III but of Ramsess II, Pinudjem II, Sheshonk I that are from later dynasties and was a convenient quarry for them. The inscriptions on the statues let us know from what period they're from. They also tell us about Sekhmet and the king.
Location/excavations
The statues can be found throughout the temple of Mut and the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. Many excavators have documented their finds. From excavations, Egyptologists have come across both completed, destroyed and fragments of the statues. In 1915 the Met Museum received a Sekhmet statue as a gift of Henry Walters and that particular statue can be traced to the Amenhotep III mortuary temple. The statues at the Met Museum were found at the latter site of Amenhotep III. At the temple of Amenhotep III the statues were set in lavish fashion in double rows, one behind the other. The statues looked as if they were ready for battle. Sekhmet statues at Kom el Heittan can be found at the courts aligned with other divine statues. The statues would form a celestial map that would be the kings eternal ritual calendar. This would explain why there were so many statues built.
The statues at Amenhotep III's temple wasn't a good place for them topography wise because they were put in an area that suffered from rising ground water and would destroy the statues. For that reason the statues were moved to other sites like the temple of Mut. Sekhmet statues found at the temple of Mut on the east bank at Luxor were the same ones used in Amenhotep III courts. The Sekhmet goddess and goddess Mut are linked together. Mut is the wife of Amun and was worshipped at the Mut Precinct. The Sekhmet statues had begun to be moved to the temple of Mut by the 19th dynasty. The statues were identified together and give religious influence. The two statues religious influence were meant to balance each other with fierce and gentle attributes and avoid destruction.
The British Museum has the largest collection of Sekhmet statues outside of Egypt. Many of the statues can still be found at their original sites. The statues were positioned near the sacred lake in the temple of Mut. Other areas where rituals that involve Sekhmet are by similar kidney shaped lakes. Many felt the number of statues found is unusual, but when looking at the evidence they were used as a calendar and for sed festivals. The statues were used in rituals to please the goddess. Sekhmet statues at Mut at Karnak on the east bank at Luxor were from Amenhotep III courts. The statues can be traced back through the epithets found on the statues.
Albert's excavations in 1831 found the Sekhmet statues at the mortuary temple in Thebes. Albert discusses how well the statues were put into rows at the Amenhotep III mortuary temple. Marriette describes the Sekhmet statues in the temple of Mut in double rows and are on the north east, west sides of the first court and some were in a single row along the south side at the court. At four sides of the second court behind the square Piers of a colonnade on the north east and west sides of the court, south side along the main wall depressing this second court from hypostyle. The statues are at Mut in rows in the north side of the first court looking north west. They're on the north side of 2nd court look northwest and are on the foreground south side of the 2nd court. They can be seen in the western corridor from the north Belonzi and at Karnak. Egyptologists like Betsy Bryan have connected the statues to the new year and jubilee festivals of Amenhotep III. Egyptologists use Decans that of southern heavens that link to Sekhmet. Decans are time keepers and help the king in appeasement. Decans are found on the sides of the Sekhmet statues. Sekhmet statues are connected with jubilee festivals through hymns. 730 Sekhmet statues are on the Kom ombo hymn and speaks of the statue as "she whom his majesty follows in the number of 730 lady of years, so reigned of months and of days argues large numbers of statues".
Using hymns, epithets and seeing how the statues were placed egyptologist believe Sekhmet statues make a sky map for the jubilee. Sourouzian gives great chronology from excavations she's been a part of at the temple of Amnehotep. He shows how different stones were implemented into the statues. Betsy Bryan and her team at Mout in 2004 wanted to bring back the statues to Kom el Heittan. There were many opinions of how many statues there were at the temple of Mut and at Amenhotep III mortuary temple. Yoyette said 730 Sekhmet statues and Marriette guessed 572 Sekhmet statues. Benson and Gourlay believed Mut had 500 statues.
Sourouzian found many statues at Amenhotep III temple, temple of Amun at Karnak and on the Montu temple precinct at Karnak north. During the 20th century H Swiss institute uncovered Sekhmet statues from Kom el Heittan. Bases of the Sekhmet statues were stored in Medinet Habu. No 1999/2000 statues were found at the peristyle court and second pylons. In 2003 six statues were found at the hypostyle square. In 2005 five statues found at peristyle north and east portico. In Spring of 2005 statues were found on the east portico and on the west trench. In 2006 after removing the water blocking the excavations there were more statues found at the peristyle court and hypostyle hall. Usually feet and bases are missing from the statues. The Sekhmet statue is found at the sanctuary at Abusir from the Graeco Roman period. The Sekhmet statues led to further cult centers at Kom el Hisn in the western delta with Hathor. The statue at the Temple of Ptah at Karnak was broken in the 20th century since the locals feared she might harm their kids. Museums will set up the statues in a similar fashion in the same way that they were placed at the Temple of Mut.
Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located along the Nile about 800 kilometers (500 mi) south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome and was the capital of Egypt for long periods during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom eras. It was close to Nubia and the Eastern Desert, with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. It was a cult center and the most venerated city during many periods of ancient Egyptian history. The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of Karnak and Luxor stand and where the city was situated; and the western bank, where a necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes can be found. In 1979, the ruins of ancient Thebes were classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Mut, also known as Maut and Mout, was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush in present-day North Sudan. In Meroitic, her name was pronounced mata): 𐦨𐦴. Her name means mother in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved a lot over the thousands of years of ancient Egyptian culture.
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic Kingdom, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut and the main place of worship of the 18th Dynastic Theban Triad, with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes, and in 1979 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the rest of the city. The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of El-Karnak, 2.5 kilometres north of Luxor.
Amenhotep III, also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC, or from June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC, after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep was Thutmose's son by a minor wife, Mutemwiya.
The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theban Necropolis. They have stood since 1350 BC, and were well known to ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as early modern travelers and Egyptologists. The statues contain 107 Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated to between AD 20 and 250; many of these inscriptions on the northernmost statue make reference to the Greek mythological king Memnon, whom the statue was then – erroneously – thought to represent.
Amenhotep I, Amenôthes I, or Amenophis I, (,) from Ancient Greek Ἀμένωφις, additionally King Djeserkare, was the second Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC. He was a son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne. However, sometime in the eight years between Ahmose I's 17th regnal year and his death, his heir apparent died and Amenhotep became crown prince. He then acceded to the throne and ruled for about 21 years. Although his reign is poorly documented, it is possible to piece together a basic history from available evidence. He inherited the kingdom formed by his father's military conquests and maintained dominance over Nubia and the Nile Delta but probably did not attempt to maintain Egyptian power in the Levant. He continued the rebuilding of temples in Upper Egypt and revolutionized mortuary complex design by separating his tomb from his mortuary temple, setting a trend in royal funerary monuments which would persist throughout the New Kingdom. After his death, he was deified as a patron god of Deir el-Medina.
Ineni was an ancient Egyptian architect and government official of the 18th Dynasty, responsible for major construction projects under the pharaohs Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II and the joint reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. He had many titles, including Superintendent of the Granaries, Superintendent of the Royal Buildings, Superintendent of the Workmen in the Karnak Treasuries, etc.
The Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it was known as ipet resyt, "the southern sanctuary". It was one of the two primary temples on the east bank, the other being Karnak. Unlike the other temples in Thebes, Luxor temple is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the pharaoh in death. Instead, Luxor temple is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of the pharaohs of Egypt were crowned in reality or conceptually.
Mortuary temples were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as for use by the king's cult after death. Some refer to these temples as a cenotaph. These temples were also used to make sacrifices of food and animals.
The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the only one that is open to the general public. The temple complex is dedicated to the principal god of the Theban Triad, Amun, in the form of Amun-Re.
The Precinct of Mut is an Ancient Egyptian temple compound located in the present city of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile in South Karnak. The compound is one of the four key ancient temples that creates the Karnak Temple Complex. It is approximately 325 meters south of the precinct of the god Amun. The precinct itself encompasses approximately 90,000 square meters of the entire area. The Mut Precinct contains at least six temples: the Mut Temple, the Contra Temple, and Temples A, B, C, and D. Surrounding the Mut Temple proper, on three sides, is a sacred lake called the Isheru. To the south of the sacred lake is a vast amount of land currently being excavated by Dr. Betsy Bryan and her team from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, also known as Kom el-Hettân, was built by the main architect Amenhotep, son of Hapu, for Pharaoh Amenhotep III during the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. The mortuary temple is located on the Western bank of the Nile river, across from the eastern bank city of Luxor. During its time, the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III was the largest funerary complex in Thebes that was built. Only parts of the mortuary temple's layout remain, as well as the Colossi of Memnon, which are two large stone statues placed at the entrance measuring 18 meters high. Because the mortuary temple was built relatively close to the river, the annual flooding caused the site to decay at a more rapid rate. New research indicates that a large majority of the destruction on the mortuary temple can be attributed to the effects of an earthquake. It was long speculated that the earthquake occurred around 27 BC; however, investigations into the mortuary temple and surrounding colossi have debunked this time frame and instead have demonstrated it occurred around 1200 BC. Additional earthquakes after the one in 1200 BC have not been ruled out. The Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Project have helped conserve the site as well as possible.
Sitamun, also Sitamen,Satamun; Ancient Egyptian: sꜣ.t-imn, "daughter of Amun" was an ancient Egyptian princess and queen consort during the 18th Dynasty.
Mutemwiya was a minor wife of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Thutmose IV, and the mother of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Mutemwiya's name means "Mut in the divine barque". While unconfirmed, it has been suggested that she acted as regent during the minority of her son Amenhotep III.
The history of the Karnak Temple complex is largely the history of Thebes. The city does not appear to have been of any significance before the Eleventh Dynasty, and any temple building here would have been relatively small and unimportant, with any shrines being dedicated to the early god of Thebes, Montu. The earliest artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Re. The tomb of Intef II mentions a 'house of Amun', which implies some structure, whether a shrine or a small temple is unknown. The ancient name for Karnak, Ipet-Isut only really refers to the central core structures of the Precinct of Amun-Re, and was in use as early as the 11th Dynasty, again implying the presence of some form of temple before the Middle Kingdom expansion.
The Temple of Ptah is a shrine located within the large Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, in Luxor, Egypt. It lies to the north of the main Amun temple, just within the boundary wall. The building was erected by the Pharaoh Thutmose III on the site of an earlier Middle Kingdom temple. The edifice was later enlarged by the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
Paser was an ancient Egyptian noble who served as vizier during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II in the 19th Dynasty. He would later also become High Priest of Amun.
The colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III is a granite head of the 18th Dynasty ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Dating from around 1370 BCE, it was found in the temple enclosure of Mut at Karnak in Upper Egypt. Two parts of the broken colossal statue are known: the head and an arm. Both parts are now in the British Museum.
The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty spanned the period from 1550/1549 to 1292 BC. This dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmose.
The Statue of Sekhmet currently housed in the Gallery of Ancient Egypt at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a life-sized sculpture of one of the oldest known Egyptian deities. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word "sekhem" and is often translated as the "Powerful One". Depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness – sometimes with the addition of a sun disc and the uraeus serpent atop her head – Sekhmet is the ancient Egyptian goddess of war who was believed to be a protector of Ma'at and of the Egyptian people. She was also associated with healing and medicine, and her priests were known for being trained doctors and surgeons of remarkable calibre.
