.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Sekhmet was the most important of Egypt’s leonine deities. She was originally a Memphite god who came to be associated with the Theban goddess Mut, consort of Amun. She had two distinct facets to her personality, on the one hand a dangerous and destructive aspect and on the other a protective and healing aspect. Her name means “powerful” or “the female powerful one.” Because Sekhmet was said to breathe fire against her enemies, the hot desert winds were referred to as the “breath of Sekhmet.” She was also directly associated with plagues, and the goddess had the power to ward off pestilence and function as a healing deity, as noted in her epithet, “Sekhmet, mistress of life.” She was typically depicted with a human female body sheathed in a tight-fitting gown and a lion’s head often crowned with a sun disk.
Once part of a seated or standing statue of the goddess, this head likely derives either from the Mut Temple complex at Karnak on the West bank of the Nile at Luxor, or from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III at Kom el-Hetan on the West bank. In all likelihood, an original total of 730 such statues graced the pharaoh’s mortuary temple, one of the largest such temples ever built in Egypt. A large number were later transported across the Nile to feature in the temple sacred to Mut, a related deity. The number of 730 had significance as twice the number of days of the year (365); as Betsy Bryan has indicated, “The Sekhmet litanies coupled with 730 Sekhmet statues invoke the protection of the king for the year and also assure a propitious outcome for each day of the year”, cf. ‘The Statue Program for the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III’ in S. Quirke, ed., The Temple In Ancient Egypt. New Discoveries and Recent Research, London, 1997, p. 60.
Each statue weighs nearly one ton, and despite the repetition of the subject, many are of unsurpassed beauty, dignity and technical excellence. What inspired Amenhotep III to commission such a large number of Sekhmet statues is not known with certainty, but more statues exist for her than of the king himself and all other deities combined. Much is known about his reign, in part by the chance survival of contemporary documents, including correspondence with neighbouring kingdoms. However, for Years 12 to 19, nothing survives, but it is thought that the Sekhmet statues were erected during this period. The reason for the gap is not known but it has been postulated that it was a period of crippling plagues in Egypt. Thus it has been suggested that the Sekhmet statues were erected in the hope of ending the pestilence. Many of the statues are inscribed with the names of towns and villages that seem to have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth, their names on the goddess’s statues the only records of their existence, and attesting to the destruction wrought on Egypt by plague during this period. For a study of these statues, see A. Kozloff, et al., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and His World, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 225-226.
Once part of a seated or standing statue of the goddess, this head likely derives either from the Mut Temple complex at Karnak on the West bank of the Nile at Luxor, or from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III at Kom el-Hetan on the West bank. In all likelihood, an original total of 730 such statues graced the pharaoh’s mortuary temple, one of the largest such temples ever built in Egypt. A large number were later transported across the Nile to feature in the temple sacred to Mut, a related deity. The number of 730 had significance as twice the number of days of the year (365); as Betsy Bryan has indicated, “The Sekhmet litanies coupled with 730 Sekhmet statues invoke the protection of the king for the year and also assure a propitious outcome for each day of the year”, cf. ‘The Statue Program for the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III’ in S. Quirke, ed., The Temple In Ancient Egypt. New Discoveries and Recent Research, London, 1997, p. 60.
Each statue weighs nearly one ton, and despite the repetition of the subject, many are of unsurpassed beauty, dignity and technical excellence. What inspired Amenhotep III to commission such a large number of Sekhmet statues is not known with certainty, but more statues exist for her than of the king himself and all other deities combined. Much is known about his reign, in part by the chance survival of contemporary documents, including correspondence with neighbouring kingdoms. However, for Years 12 to 19, nothing survives, but it is thought that the Sekhmet statues were erected during this period. The reason for the gap is not known but it has been postulated that it was a period of crippling plagues in Egypt. Thus it has been suggested that the Sekhmet statues were erected in the hope of ending the pestilence. Many of the statues are inscribed with the names of towns and villages that seem to have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth, their names on the goddess’s statues the only records of their existence, and attesting to the destruction wrought on Egypt by plague during this period. For a study of these statues, see A. Kozloff, et al., Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and His World, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 225-226.