Sekhmet
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Lion-headed goddess of war and battle of Memphis. Although she was the malignant sun, Sekhmet attracted osteopaths to her cult. She was happily married to Ptah, the most creative of gods.
Her name simply means the 'powerful' and is extremely apt in view of the destructive aspect of her character. She is shown with the body of a lady and the head of a lioness. Sometimes the linen dress she wears exhibits a rosetta pattern over each nipple, an ancient leonine motif that can be traced to observation of the shoulder-knot hairs on lions. She is daughter of the sun-god Re and became regarded as the consort of Ptah of Memphis, where she subsumed (certianly by the New Kingdom) local cults as 'mistress of Ankhtawy' (= 'life of the Two Lands', a name for Memphis).
One of these cults seems to have led to her title, found on a stela in the Serapeum at Saqqara, 'lady of the Acacia'. Since there was a degree of correspondence between Sakhmet and Bastet, her son was taken to be the same as that of the cat-goddess, namely Nefertum the lotus-god. A superbly carved limestone fragment from the valley of Sneferu (Dynasty IV) at Dahshur shows the monarch's head closely juxtaposed to the muzzle of a lioness-deity (presumably Sakhmet) as if to symbolise Sneferu breathing in the divine life-force emanating from the goddess's mouth. This would be in line with a statement in the Pyramid Texts to the effect that Sakhmet conceived the king. Certainly, under Sahure of Dynasty V the goddess received a shrine at Abusir. A corresponding relationship was made between Sakhmet of Memphis and the goddess Mut, wife of Amun at Thebes, a fusion facilitated by the fact that both goddesses could manifest themselves under leonine forms. Hundreds of statues of Sakhmet were set up in the reign of Amenhotep III (Dynasty XVIII) in the precinct of Mut's temple (known as 'Isheru') south of the Great Temple of Amun of Karnak. Their quantity is attributable to their ritual purpose in receiving offerings, each statue being so honoured on one particular day of the year. Sakhmet's black granite statues either show her seated holding the sign of life ('ankh') in her hand or standing with a sceptre in the shape of the papyrus, heraldic plant of north Egypt. Inscriptions on these statues emphasise her warlike aspect, e.g., 'smiter of the Nubians'.
THE SAVAGERY OF SAKHMET
The goddess is adopted by the pharaohs as a symbol of their own unvanquishable heroism in battle. She breathes fire against the king's enemies, such as in the Battle of Kadesh when she is visualised on the horses of Ramesses II, her flames scorching the bodies of enemy soldiers. The wrath of the pharaoh towards those who rebel against his rule is compared by a Middle Kingdom treatise on kingship to the rage of Sakhmet. In a passage intended to flatter the pharaoh in the story of Sinuhe, it is said that the fear of the king pervades foreign countries like Sakhmet in a year of pestilence. Her title 'lady of bright red linen', which on the surface is a reference to the colour of her homeland of Lower Egypt, carries, from her warlike nature, the secondary force of meaning the blood-soaked garments of her enemies. One myth in particular reveals the bloodthirsty side of Sakhmet. it is found in a number of cersions in royal tombs at Thebes. It involves also the goddess Hathor in her vengeful aspect. The two goddesses are both 'Eyes of Re', agents of his punishment. There was a temple to Sakhmet-Hathor at Kom el-Hisn in the western Delta, and in his temple at Abydos Sety I (Dynasty XIX) is suckled by Hathor whose title is 'mistress of the mansion of Sakhmet'. In this legend the sun-god Re fears that mankind plots against him. The gods urge him to call down retribution on men by sending his avenging Eye down to Egypt as Hathor. As the goddess slays men, leaving them in pools of blood in the deserts where they fled, she transforms into the 'powerful'. During the night the god Re, trying to avert a total massacre of the human race by the goddess who clearly has become unstoppable in her bloodlust, orders his high priest at Heliopolis to obtain red ochre from Elephantine and grind it with beer mash. Secen thousand jars of red beer are spread over the land of Egypt. in the morning Sakhmet returns to finish her task of destroying the human race, drinks what she assumes is blood and goes away intoxicated, unable to complete her slaughter.
SAKHMET AS HEALER
Spells exist that regard plagues as brought by the 'messengers' of Sakhmet. On the assumption that the goddess could ward off pestilence as well as bring it, the Egyptians adopted Sakhmet 'lady of life' as a beneficial force in their attempts to counteract illness. her priesthood seems to have had a prophylactic role in medicine. The priest ('waeb Sakhmet') being present to recite prayers to the goddess was as integral a part of the treatment as the practicalities performed by the physician (the 'sunu'). In the Old Kingdom the priest of Sakhmet are an organised phyle and from a slightly later date in its extant copy the Ebers Papyrus attributes to these priest a detailed knowledge of the heart.
Text by Lillianne Z.
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