Sekhmet: The Goddess of War and Guardian of the Pharaohs of Egypt
Sekhmet was a deity who was in charge of war and victory in ancient Egypt. Also known as Sakhmet, the goddess was known to be responsible for diseases and healing.
The powerful goddess was also the daughter of Ra who carried out vengeance.
To learn more about this intriguing deity, continue reading.
Who Is Sekhmet in Egyptian Mythology?
Sekhmet is an ancient Egyptian deity who was fierce and kept the Pharaohs safe. According to legend, the deity was born out of the fire of Ra as he peered through the sky. The Egyptians believed that the searing heat in the deserts was from her nostrils, and in one myth, the Sekhmet goddess is sent by Ra to kill all the people who refused to obey the laws of Ma’at.
Her name meant either power or might in the ancient Egyptian language. Some translations also render the meaning of the name as “one who wields power.” The Sekhmet hieroglyphics translates into Sekhem, the Egyptian word for either strong, violent or mighty. She had several titles, including Lady of Slaughter, Mistress of Dread and One Before Whom Evil Trembles.
She was a major goddess in the Egyptian pantheon and was often associated with Hathor, the goddess of women and love. Sekhmet had several symbols including the solar disk and the Uraeus, which will be explained later. She was feared throughout the land and her worship was popular. Painters and sculptors often depicted her as a lioness to reflect her wild nature.
The Family of Sekhmet
The parents of the goddess were not clear as different myths gave her different parents. Some myths had only Ra as her parent while other stories featured Hathor as her only parent. Still, some myths narrate that a combination of Ra and Hathor brought forth the goddess. What was not in contention, however, was her husband.
Sekhmet’s husband was Ptah, the creator god and the patron of craftsmen. Together with Ptah, she gave birth to their son, Nefertem, the god of flowers and perfume. Other stories indicated that Sekhmet also mothered Maahes, the lion god of war. Sekhmet was also a sister to Bastet, the god of cats.
Some people believe Anubis, the god of the underworld, married Bastet, the other half of Sekhmet. Their union was an unbreakable one forged in steel, so there seem to be trending stories that celebrate the Anubis and Sekhmet love. However, this may be inaccurate since both Anubis and Sekhmet got married to different partners according to original Egyptian mythology.
The Origin and the Story of Sekhmet
According to the story of Sekhmet, she was created by the god Ra to exact revenge on stubborn humans. The humans had refused to maintain law and order in the land, which invoked Ra’s vengeance. As Ra looked down upon earth with anger, he created Sekhmet by turning his wife Hathor into Sekhmet, who came forth and started killing mortals.
Thus, Sekhmet and Hathor are considered different sides of the same being.
The Killing Machine
Sekhmet became a killing machine and continued the slaughtering long after Ra’s anger had been avenged. Sekhmet drank the blood of her victims and slaughtered a lot of people. Seeing that Sekhmet’s bloodthirst could spell doom for humanity, Ra decided to bring the killing to an end. All attempts to stop Sekhmet proved futile so Ra resorted to a trick.
Since Sekhmet loved blood, Ra mixed beer with red dye, giving it a semblance of blood. He then poured this deceptive mixture into the Nile. Upon seeing the mixture of beer and red dye, Sekhmet fell for the trick and drank the beer to her fill. The beer made her drunk and she finally stopped killing.
Falling in Love
Sekhmet then slept for days and when she finally woke up, the first thing she saw was Ptah, the creator god. According to legend, Ptah and Sekhmet fell in love and the two gods bore Nefertum. Together, these three deities formed a triad and were worshiped in Memphis as such. Ptah and Sekhmet were then said to adopt the brilliant architect Imhotep.
Other Endings of the Story
Some versions of the story state that Sekhmet, after realizing she had been tricked by Ra, became angry. She then left Ra and Egypt and her absence made the sun lose a part of its power. This led to a gap in the security of Egypt since she was a protector and god of war. It took the intervention of the god of Wisdom, Thoth, to bring her back to Ra.
According to other traditions, it was Hathor that returned to Ra instead of Sekhmet. These myths explain that Hathor and Sekhmet separated after Sekhmet woke up from her drunkenness. Hathor then went to live with Ra while Sekhmet continued to cause carnage whenever she had the opportunity.
The Purpose of the Story
The purpose of the story was to explain the origin of Sekhmet and the annual flooding of the Nile. Sometimes when the Nile flooded, the red silt turned the waters red, making it look like blood.
The ancient Egyptians likened this phenomenon to the bloodshed by Sekhmet as she devoured her victims. When the floods receded, the Egyptians explained that it was Sekhmet who drank all the “blood” to prevent it from destroying Egypt.
The Depictions of Sekhmet
Ancient Egyptians depicted Sekhmet as a lioness due to her fierce and wild nature. She was also represented as a woman with the head of a lioness. Her robe was painted red to indicate her blood-thirsty nature. Sometimes she was also portrayed as half-naked, with a rosetta pattern on her breast which represented the knot of hairs on lions.
Other times Sekhmet was depicted as a lioness with a sun disk on her head. The sun disk was the eye of Ra, representing her role as the daughter of the sun god. She was the wrath of Ra and was sent to exact revenge on behalf of him. Around the sun disk was the Uraeus cobra, which symbolized the royalty, power and prestige of Sekhmet.
Sekhmet was also depicted as a cat to represent her calmer and friendlier state. In her calm state as a cat, her followers would offer prayers to her. She was sometimes represented as a royal bier to indicate her role as the protector of the dead. Once in the tomb, the Egyptians placed the deceased on the bier of Sekhmet.Other Depictions
Sekhmet wore the aegis around her neck, which symbolized her dominion and authority. Her head was painted green to signify the afterlife and resurrection while the rest of her body was gold. She held the ankh in one hand, which symbolized her role in the afterlife. In the other hand was the staff of Lower Egypt made from papyrus.
The staff of papyrus indicated her role as the goddess and protector of Lower Egypt. Other ancient artwork depict Sekhmet on her throne with her subjects performing rituals before her. Sitting around her were the goddesses of Lower and Upper Egypt, Wadjet and Nekhbet.
Other artwork depicted her holding the Was scepter, which was a symbol of power and dominion. This showed her position as one of the main goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon. Some depictions of Sekhmet included the goddess kneeling with her hands resting on her thighs and holding the ankh.
The Roles of Sekhmet
Sekhmet was believed to be responsible for the heat in the desert, so the ancient Egyptians gave her the title “Nesert” which meant “flame.” She could unleash plagues on her enemies and cause suffering. However, she could also heal those who were faithful to her.
Sekhmet was a protector of Ra and was responsible for killing his enemies. She was the protector of Ma’at, the goddess of justice and balance. Her fierce nature earned her the name “Lady of terror.” Though she was fierce, she was also the patron of doctors, thus the Egyptians referred to her as “Lady of Life.“
She was part of the female deities who bore the title “Eye of Ra.” Sekhmet also protected the pharaohs during their lifetime and in the world of the dead.
The Worship of Sekhmet
Several Sekhmet followers had mummified cats in their homes which represented Sekhmet and to which they offered prayers to. Their belief was that whispering their prayers to the cats would be heard and answered by Sekhmet.
Though Bastet was the goddess of cats, Bast and Sekhmet shared the same cat symbol because Egyptians believed that both goddesses were two sides of the same soul. Their belief was that Sekhmet was the fiery aspect and Bast was the calmer side of the same soul.
Sekhmet enjoyed the same worship as the Creator God, Ptah, and her son, Nefertem. During religious rites, the priests recite long prayers in the worship of the deity. A prayer titled The Last Day of the Year was said to pacify the goddess because the Egyptians believed that Sekhmet usually attacked people during the last day of the year. Therefore, the priests recited this prayer while wearing a white head tie in a bid to pacify the goddess.
Her followers performed prayers each day before different Sekhmet statues throughout the land. This was to prevent disasters and to avert the anger of Sekhmet. Thus, the statues of the goddess were plentiful in the land of ancient Egypt. Archeologists have discovered about 700 such statues just in the temple of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
The Temple of Sekhmet
The city of Memphis housed the temple of Sekhmet. Since Sekhmet shared similarities with the goddess Hathor, the Egyptians built dual temples to worship both deities. The cult of Sekhmet built another temple in the city of Leontopolis in Lower Egypt.
The Festival of Sekhmet
There was an annual festival that was held in honor of the goddess organized at the beginning of every year. This festival was characterized by drunkenness and merrymaking. It was attended by tens of thousands of people from all walks of life. There was lots of music, dance and alcohol waiting to be consumed.
The Pharaoh Hatshepsut even built a lobby for drunkenness in the temple of Sekhmet to celebrate the deity.
The Reason for the Sekhmet Festival
The reason behind the festival was to commemorate the annual flooding of the Nile and to appease the goddess. The Egyptians believed that this festival would stop the excessive floods and make way for farming.
The festival was related to the period during the floods where the silt turned the Nile into a blood red color. It was also to commemorate the intoxication of Sekhmet that brought the incessant killing to an end.
Events of the Festival
During the festival, several rituals were performed in front of hundreds of Sekhmet statues. The followers served the priestesses of Sekhmet with wine until they became intoxicated and lost control. This had serious side effects on them and they had to be attended to by the temple servants.
Summary
So far we’ve covered the origins, roles, story and worship of Sekhmet. This is a recap of what we’ve discovered:
Sekhmet was an Egyptian deity responsible for plagues, diseases and pestilence.
She also had a calmer side that could heal the diseases and plagues.
She was the Eye of Ra and was responsible for carrying out vengeance against Ra’s enemies.
Sekhmet’s husband was Ptah, with whom she had Nefertem, the god of flowers and perfume.
She was mainly depicted as a female with the head of a lioness, either holding the ankh or papyrus scepter or both.
In the story of Sekhmet, she was summoned by Ra to exact revenge on those who failed to maintain Maat.
She almost destroyed mankind in her anger, so Ra had to trick her into stopping her killing spree.
Her worship was characterized by long prayers meant to pacify her anger and to seek healing.
The worship of Sekhmet was gradually taken over by the goddess Mut as the city of Thebes rose to prominence. Today, records have been found in the temple of Mut that detailed the events of the festival of Sekhmet.
