“And Ra took his Eye and gave it to the enchanting Hathor – and with the power of the burning sun she changed – no longer was she the goddess of love and affection, now she was Sekhmet, goddess of war and destruction.
…, and as she was asleep Ra took back his magical Eye and Sekhmet became Hathor once again.”
Francois Daumas is the author of a very concise, but important research on the nature of Egyptian goddesses. The findings of the exercises are: Egyptian goddesses, regardless of its external differences are variations on one and the same female deity: Mother Goddess, Goddess Woman! In other words, the nature and functions are identical, although the iconography and their names are not identical. All goddesses are hypostases of the same female deity, hence the differences in iconography. This conclusion of the Daumas is fundamental.
In trust – when we regard toward the names of the Egyptian deities, we rest with impression that these names are not true nouns, but the adjectives! Depending of the context and what the author wish to underline is used adjective or epithet, which is proper for the content. The different epithets are multiple dimensions of the Goddess!
When the deity is in the role of protectress of the home and maternity, she is determinate simple with one word – Hathor – Hwt-Hr – The home of the [God] Hor.
That means, the home of harmony, children, love … All this with one word.
When the deity is in the role of armed protectress of land, homes, kingdom, she is pointed as – Neith – a warrior goddess! Again one single word!
When she represents infiniteness of the Universe, the Metaphor of the Sky – Nut Is used in parallel with Lady to the Limit. Here "limit" means the edges of the known universe.
Interesting philosophy matter – unlimited Sky/Universe with edges/limits. Ancient Egyptians used Dialectic as we know in the modern times by the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Heinrich Moritz Chalybäus .
Sometimes she is guardian of silence and rest, respectively of died people – Lady of the West – Meretseger. After sunset all world is going to rest.
Egyptian writings seem as now day’s tractates of mathematics. All math scientific books begin with list of signs and what they mean. Then, in the text the signs are used without explains. Who wish to understand long formulae must to go to explanation page.
In the same manner, the readers who wish to understand ancient Egyptian text have to previously to study symbolic of deities’ names. Thus, the text is concise. In the same time it is abundant of notions and should be easy modified if need occur.
Thus should be explained and understood the multidisciplinary character of the Egyptian Goddess, apparent from the following text that is brief version of the myth for the Great Flood - Source
Ra had ruled the gods for countless years. He was stern and fair in matters of justice, and wise in the council he heeded from the other gods. Now the ravages of time were affecting even the mightiest of the gods for Ra was growing weaker and older. He spent many hours asleep and less time attending to the matters of state and running creation than he used to. His Eye still blazed from above though and he gazed upon the humans who worked the land. All was in order along the fertile riverbanks, but when Ra’s gaze wandered to the desert, he saw some humans plotting a coup. This went against the ancient order and Ra was furious. He summoned his council of gods and spoke to them.
“Oh woe is me, the humans are plotting against the sacred order. After all I have done for them, after I created them from my own tears they turn against me. You that I have summoned are the wisest gods of my council, created by me – as the humans were created by my tears so you gods were created by all my other fluids (and I do mean all…). What punishment should I mete out to these ungrateful mortals?”
Apis spoke up, “Oh mighty Ra, should we destroy them utterly? Send a flood perhaps to wipe them out?”
“No Apis, that is a stupid idea. I only want to punish the wicked, and besides a Flood is a good thing to happen since it makes the land around the river fertile. No, only an insane god would countenance such a thing.”
Thoth gave his council, “Ra of the Heavens, perhaps we could send a lion to diminish their numbers?”
“Umn, not that terrifying really, unless it was a lion who was also a god. Perhaps you are onto something there…”
Ptah spoke, “Eternal Ra, you know that the only punishment that is fitting is for your own Burning Eye to scorch these wicked people from the earth.” The other gods nodded in agreement.
Then Hathor, Ra’s beautiful daughter spoke. “Father, the council of gods is wise, and your Burning Eye should indeed be the instrument of destruction. But you are tired and sometimes look the wrong way when you are trying to concentrate. Let me take your Eye and be your vengeance. It would be a shame for the pyramids to be burned to a crisp because you needed your afternoon nap and your attention wavered.”
“Wise council indeed”, replied Ra, “Very well, so it shall be.”
And Ra took his Eye and gave it to the enchanting Hathor – and with the power of the burning sun she changed – no longer was she the goddess of love and affection, now she was Sekhmet, goddess of war and destruction. Her head was that of a Lion (Thoth nodded in approval), and her eyes shot fire. She descended to the desert and began to destroy the humans who had been prepared to bring chaos to the land.
“Well, that was tiring”, said Ra, “I’m off for a nap. Wake me when my daughter returns…”
…
Ra slowly returned to consciousness. He could hear mumbling around him, voices whispering “You tell him”, and “No, you tell him!” Ra stood up and the gods who had come to wake him shuffled quickly back from his bed.
“Oh mighty Ra, there’s been a bit of a problem” said Osiris. “While Sekhmet has indeed carried out your wise plan and killed the evil ones who plotted against the order of the universe, she has, umn, gotten a bit carried away. In fact we can’t stop her from killing people, it seems she has gotten a taste for human blood.”
“Oh dear, well this wont do. And none of you can stop her eh? All right, I’ll just get the Eye of Ra and stop her with that.”
“Er, she has the Eye of Ra, that’s why we can’t stop her, oh mighty and aged one.”
“All right then, I have a cunning plan. Bastet, bring in the harvest and start making as much beer as possible. Seth, go and fetch as much red dye as you can. And Apis…”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Prepare a flood!”
…
And so it came to pass. The beer was dyed red and put into the Nile. And a great flood came upon the river and it burst its banks spilling the red beer all over the land. When Sekhmet saw this she thought it was blood and quickly ran over to drink it. And so she did, gallons and gallons of beer, she drank it all, reveling in the taste, not noticing that it was not the blood of humanity. Eventually she grew quite drunk and collapsed, and as she was asleep, Ra took back his magical Eye and Sekhmet became Hathor once again.
The next day while Hathor the beautiful stayed at home nursing a hangover, Ra addressed the gods.
“My fellow immortals, through my own negligence the humans were nearly wiped from the face of the world. Never again should this happen, and rather than make some grandiose promise (which some other god will only end up breaking) I shall instead retire. Geb, my grandson, will become the new King of the Gods and rule in my stead. As for me I shall go up into the heavens and flow through the sky each day, watching over you all.”
And so he did, and the Gods never again made such a mistake as to nearly kill the people they so loved.
This story demonstrates transmutation of the goddesses from one to another, and again in return. Hence, the Egyptians did not make a sharp distinction between deities, but accepted them as miscellaneous appearances depending of the moment and the moment’s needs. The Egyptian mythology is plenty with such stories, some of them very old – from Old kingdom!
The transmutation between Sekhmet and Hathor is very important, because the translation of line 13 in the Dream Stele should be “… which we bear to it: bulls… and all young vegetables; and that, whom we will glorify… Khatri the statue, made into the name Atom- chorus -em-Aketa…”
The Sphinx should be representation of the supreme goddess that is permitted possesses manifestations as Sekhmet, Hathor, Neith, and so on …
Not occasionally in the mortal temples of the great pyramids had places for the statues of the pharaohs and for Hathor.
The name Sekhmet is very appealing for our investigation!
We do not know how exactly was pronounced this name. We do not know whether it was noun, proper noun, clarification noun, adjective, epithet, metaphor…
In congruence with Egyptian writing rules, the name is written “s-k-h-m-t-“.
The inserting of “e” on the first and fourth place is preference of the Egyptologists.
Meanwhile, the positions for vowels are five – that means possible variants of the name are none less than 625! Detailed study of all probable forms is lumber work and not appropriate in the current exposition.
As I am not professional Egyptologist, I will permit to me myself some freedom of thinking.
It is fascinating idea to get that this name is derived from Sa-Ka-Hu-Ma-Ta.
Sa – is meaning “child” and is accepted as symbol of Protection
Ka – Supreme Soul
Hu – symbol of the God Principles/creativeness
Ma – righteousness, truth
Ta – true measure, true dimension
And this rendition is in accordance with narrated story.
The reader should take sense that he/she is reading “The Holy Wright”. From here are many features in the Bible.
Next is some more about Sekhmet – terrible Goddess, impersonation of all goddesses, confidante of Ra, performer of the Divine Will!
The Egyptians associated the creation of the desert with her breath.
She was also regarded as being the protector of the royalty and their leader in warfare.
The fierce warrior goddess was also considered a solar deity. The Egyptians drew association between Sekhmet and other deities such as Bast and Hathor. Sekhmet was responsible for bearing the solar disk and she gained her association with the royalty and Wadjet by being the bearer of Uraeus. This is why she was also considered a divine character of order and justice (reincarnation of the Maat). She was also connected with Tefnut through the eye of Horus.
In later dynasties, the Egyptians started to associate Sekhmet with the Sun God Ra!
They believed that she was the daughter of the most powerful deity for the Egyptians. This new belief came into existence when the cult of Sekhmet joined forces with the worshipers of Horus.
She was a sun goddess, embodying the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. Fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Like the sun, her temper was uncontrollable.
Sekhmet reached the zenith of her popularity in the 12-th dynasty during the reign of Amenemhat I. It was during this time that a dedicated cult of followers of Sekhmet had attained ruling authority over Egypt. They decided to shift the capital of Egypt from its previous location to the headquarters of Sekhmet’s cult, which was in Itjtawy. Source
Originally, Sekhmet’s domain was in Upper Egypt, which is the region in the south of the country. However, with the passage of time, Upper Egypt actually conquered the delta region, which was classified as Lower Egypt. This expanded the domain of Sekhmet and made her more powerful than two warrior goddesses combined – Menhit "she who massacres" and Neith, goddess of creation, hunting and the dead; associated with wars.
Following this expansion in Sekhmet’s domain, she was now being considered as the sole avenger of wrongs and acquired the title of “Scarlet Lady”. The latter title was given to her because of her lust for blood due to she is also regarded as being the original inspiration for the creation of the vampire.
After taking over Lower Egypt Sekhmet had actually entered into the territory of another female warrior goddess by the name of Bast. Although she could not remove the former governor of Lower Egypt, Bast’s role was restricted to being a lesser deity. Bast is a catlike goddess, daughter of the sun god "Ra". Bast was originally a lion goddess, but after 1000 B.C. as her cult developed, she became more associated with the cat and was considered the center counterpart of the lion goddess Sekhmet.
The domestic cat attained special significance as the sacred animal of the Goddess Bast. Hundreds of figures were set up as votive offerings in the temple at Bubastis in order that the donor might share in the Goddess's grace. Actual mummies of cats were buried by the thousands in special cemeteries in the area.
During this time, the role of many Egyptian deities and mythological characters was being changed. These changes continued to occur with the advent of the Greeks into the Egyptian land.
The name Sekhmet traditionally translates as “the one who is powerful”. However, this is not precise translating, and is more subjected to many roles of this goddess.
She was also given a number of other titles such as “The Mistress of the Dead” (actually Meretseger), “Lady of Slaughter” and the “One Before Whom Evil Trembles”.
In her row, Meretseger – Goddess of Punishment and Mercy, Protectress of the Necropolis Under the Peak of the West (the cemetery) – believed to be very important deity. Sometimes she is merged with Sekhmet, but rests with traditional iconography as serpent.
Most frequently, Meretseger is represented as Lady of the west.
Let us see portrait made for Meretseger by Caroline Seawright: Source
Meretseger (Mertseger, Merseger, Mereseger) was the ancient Egyptian goddess of the necropolis at Waset (Thebes). She watched over the deceased in their tombs, protecting them and their belonging from tomb robbers. She also protected the area from criminals and oath breakers, striking all those with evil intent down with snakebites or with blindness. The workers of Deir el Medina feared her wrath, begging for her forgiveness and a cure for blindness or venomous bites, believing that she had struck them down. They believed she was a merciful goddess who would cure them if they were repentant. Her reach did not extend beyond the necropolis, so she was not worshiped throughout Egypt. Mostly the people, who worked in the necropolis, building and decorating the tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs, revered her. Meretseger was generally shown as a coiled cobra, or as a cobra with a woman's head. Sometimes she was shown in cobra form with head and arm projecting from the hood of the cobra. At other times she was shown as a snake, with three heads - that of a woman, that of a cobra and that of a vulture. On occasion she was also shown as a cobra headed woman or as a full woman, though this is very infrequent. Her name, 'She Who Loves Silence', comes from mr 'love' (with the feminine t ending) and sgr 'quiet'. She was believed to live on a certain peak, shaped like a pyramid (which has the sound mr, so this could be a pun on Meretseger's name), on the mountain chain above the Valley of Kings. At times, she was known as her dwelling place - 'The Peak of the West' - as a term of respect. This also connected her with the peak in the Egyptian mind, making them one. It also meant that her worship was focused around Waset, and she only had power over the royal necropolis there. After all, the other deities were generally not fixed to a specific geographical location. While they were worshiped mainly at one city or another, they were not the personification of that city. Meretseger, on the other hand, became the personification of the peak. She did not move - the people who revered had to be near the peak.) A deity of protection, she was thought to guard the tombs in the Valley of the Kings from the heights of the mountain that overlooked the royal necropolis. The workers at the village at the necropolis left steles dedicated to her, worshiping her as a dangerous, merciful goddess. Yet they were fearful of her. They believed that she would strike down those who desecrated the sacred tombs, poisoning them with her snakebites or scorpion stings, or striking them down with blindness. These same fates were reserved for those who committed any crime, or those who swore false oaths. Yet she was merciful to the repentant, curing them of the results of her anger - many stelae frequently seek to make atonement for their wrongdoings. The people stepped lightly around this goddess.
However, let us return to my loved goddess – Sekhmet. Along with her husband, the creator-god Ptah and their son Nerfertum, she was part of the powerful trio of deities that protected Ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt. Nearby to the Sphinx and Great pyramids.
The female goddess was also considered a special deity for women because she was supposed to be ruling over menstruation as well. She was renowned as Goddess of Transformation and Healing and was associated with the "fire in the belly" that ignites the kundalini energies. She is known as the destroyer of evil and healer of all things. Source
She is most commonly depicted in the form of a lioness and was regarded as being the fiercest of all hunters. Frequently, she was represented as having the head of a lioness and the body of a female human. A serpent sits upon her head. Again parallels with Meretseger.
Alternative Names for Sekhmet were:
Beloved Sekhmet, Destroyer by Fire, Awakener, Ruler of Lions, Great One of Healing, Burner of Evildoers, Protectress of Divine Order…
The last is parallel with Ma’at. In her row, Ma'at, seemed to be more of a concept than an actual goddess. Her name literally meant “truth” in Egyptian. She was truth, order, balance and justice personified. She was harmony, she personified what was right, and she was what things should be. It was thought that if Ma'at did not exist, the universe would become chaos, once again.
She was judge at the Egyptian underworld at the Halls of Ma'ati or Halls of the Double Ma'at. The dead person's heart was placed on a scale, balanced by Ma'at herself, or by the Feather of Ma'at (her symbol that she wore on her head was an ostrich feather). In life, it was the pharaohs' duty to uphold Ma'at. "I have done Ma'at" had been spoken by several pharaohs, as well as being called "beloved of Ma'at".
Now, we see that Sekhmet appears as manifestation of Ma’at!
King Amenhotep III especially revered Sekhmet, as he had an enormous quantity of statues. Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project, directed by Dr. Hourig Sourouzian, has unearthed more than 80 statues of the goddess Sekhmet during their excavations at the temple. It has been suggested that the Sekhmet’s statues were erected because Amenhotep III was very sick during his final years. Source
This deity was highly regarded trough all Egyptian history.
Only in Temple of Mut in Karnak had originally been 730 statues – one seated and one standing for each day of the year! May be they were part of a ritual intended to pacify the fiery goddess.
This is interesting – big number statues of Sekhmet in the temple of Mut …
Nearly 600 of these statues have now been accounted for. The British museum has fragments of over 20, the largest collection outside Egypt, where a considerable number of the original group can still be seen in situ. Source Source2
One is in Metropolitan museum, more in the Vatican Museum, in Sistine Chapel, in Vatican gardens, some in private collections.
The sculptures of Sekhmet are scattered all around the world!
The museums and homes are inundated with countless number of small statuettes of Sekhmet. Big part of them are contemporary production. The presence of the Sekhmet in jewelry manufacture is abundant. Nice example is demonstrated in private Barakat Collection where diminutive electrum amulet is a masterpiece of intricacy. Originally, ancient statuettesa would have been attached to a small base, perhaps inserted into a shrine of sorts, as indicated by the pin underneath her feet. She is depicted with the head of a lion and the body of a human wearing a long, close fitting robe. Represented seated, she holds long stemmed lotus bud in her right hand. The features of the lioness are remarkably naturalistic, and yet, at the same time, we can sense the power of her divinity. Perhaps this pendant once stood on a shrine inside the house of a high-ranking official from the city of Memphis. Surely, given the inherent value of the material, the symbolic significance of Sekhmet, and the absolute mastery of the carving, this pendant could only have been possessed by an elite member of Ancient Egyptian society. Certain objects, masterpieces treasured in their own time, are of an eternal beauty that is easily appreciated regardless of era or culture.
This chapter appears partially as chaos and makes a sense of heaped notions. I please to excuse me for this condition of the text. Such condition is unavoidable in the case one wish to save purity of sources. In addition, they are many and many…
The Egyptian culture lasted long time and rested many monuments in countless number of variants. The legends and speculations over died culture are unrestrained. The investigation is not easy.
Let us to repeat briefly:
Sekhmet is a sun goddess, embodying the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. Fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Like the sun, her temper was uncontrollable. The Egyptians associated the creation of the desert with her breath.
Protector of the royalty and their leader in warfare.
A special deity for women because she was supposed to be ruling over menstruation as well. She was renowned as Goddess of Transformation and Healing. She is known as the destroyer of evil and healer of all things.
She was depicted in the form of a lioness. Frequently, she was represented as having the head of a lioness and the body of a female human. A serpent sits upon her head.
She is named:
Beloved Sekhmet, Destroyer by Fire, Awakener, Ruler of Lions, Great One of Healing, Burner of Evildoers, Protectress of Divine Order, The Mistress of the Dead, Lady of Slaughter, One Before Whom Evil Trembles.
She merged with Hathor, Bast, Menhit, Neith, Meretseger …
Are you know better candidate for the Great Sphinx?
…, and as she was asleep Ra took back his magical Eye and Sekhmet became Hathor once again.”
Francois Daumas is the author of a very concise, but important research on the nature of Egyptian goddesses. The findings of the exercises are: Egyptian goddesses, regardless of its external differences are variations on one and the same female deity: Mother Goddess, Goddess Woman! In other words, the nature and functions are identical, although the iconography and their names are not identical. All goddesses are hypostases of the same female deity, hence the differences in iconography. This conclusion of the Daumas is fundamental.
In trust – when we regard toward the names of the Egyptian deities, we rest with impression that these names are not true nouns, but the adjectives! Depending of the context and what the author wish to underline is used adjective or epithet, which is proper for the content. The different epithets are multiple dimensions of the Goddess!
When the deity is in the role of protectress of the home and maternity, she is determinate simple with one word – Hathor – Hwt-Hr – The home of the [God] Hor.
That means, the home of harmony, children, love … All this with one word.
When the deity is in the role of armed protectress of land, homes, kingdom, she is pointed as – Neith – a warrior goddess! Again one single word!
When she represents infiniteness of the Universe, the Metaphor of the Sky – Nut Is used in parallel with Lady to the Limit. Here "limit" means the edges of the known universe.
Interesting philosophy matter – unlimited Sky/Universe with edges/limits. Ancient Egyptians used Dialectic as we know in the modern times by the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Heinrich Moritz Chalybäus .
Sometimes she is guardian of silence and rest, respectively of died people – Lady of the West – Meretseger. After sunset all world is going to rest.
Egyptian writings seem as now day’s tractates of mathematics. All math scientific books begin with list of signs and what they mean. Then, in the text the signs are used without explains. Who wish to understand long formulae must to go to explanation page.
In the same manner, the readers who wish to understand ancient Egyptian text have to previously to study symbolic of deities’ names. Thus, the text is concise. In the same time it is abundant of notions and should be easy modified if need occur.
Thus should be explained and understood the multidisciplinary character of the Egyptian Goddess, apparent from the following text that is brief version of the myth for the Great Flood - Source
Ra had ruled the gods for countless years. He was stern and fair in matters of justice, and wise in the council he heeded from the other gods. Now the ravages of time were affecting even the mightiest of the gods for Ra was growing weaker and older. He spent many hours asleep and less time attending to the matters of state and running creation than he used to. His Eye still blazed from above though and he gazed upon the humans who worked the land. All was in order along the fertile riverbanks, but when Ra’s gaze wandered to the desert, he saw some humans plotting a coup. This went against the ancient order and Ra was furious. He summoned his council of gods and spoke to them.
“Oh woe is me, the humans are plotting against the sacred order. After all I have done for them, after I created them from my own tears they turn against me. You that I have summoned are the wisest gods of my council, created by me – as the humans were created by my tears so you gods were created by all my other fluids (and I do mean all…). What punishment should I mete out to these ungrateful mortals?”
Apis spoke up, “Oh mighty Ra, should we destroy them utterly? Send a flood perhaps to wipe them out?”
“No Apis, that is a stupid idea. I only want to punish the wicked, and besides a Flood is a good thing to happen since it makes the land around the river fertile. No, only an insane god would countenance such a thing.”
Thoth gave his council, “Ra of the Heavens, perhaps we could send a lion to diminish their numbers?”
“Umn, not that terrifying really, unless it was a lion who was also a god. Perhaps you are onto something there…”
Ptah spoke, “Eternal Ra, you know that the only punishment that is fitting is for your own Burning Eye to scorch these wicked people from the earth.” The other gods nodded in agreement.
Then Hathor, Ra’s beautiful daughter spoke. “Father, the council of gods is wise, and your Burning Eye should indeed be the instrument of destruction. But you are tired and sometimes look the wrong way when you are trying to concentrate. Let me take your Eye and be your vengeance. It would be a shame for the pyramids to be burned to a crisp because you needed your afternoon nap and your attention wavered.”
“Wise council indeed”, replied Ra, “Very well, so it shall be.”
And Ra took his Eye and gave it to the enchanting Hathor – and with the power of the burning sun she changed – no longer was she the goddess of love and affection, now she was Sekhmet, goddess of war and destruction. Her head was that of a Lion (Thoth nodded in approval), and her eyes shot fire. She descended to the desert and began to destroy the humans who had been prepared to bring chaos to the land.
“Well, that was tiring”, said Ra, “I’m off for a nap. Wake me when my daughter returns…”
…
Ra slowly returned to consciousness. He could hear mumbling around him, voices whispering “You tell him”, and “No, you tell him!” Ra stood up and the gods who had come to wake him shuffled quickly back from his bed.
“Oh mighty Ra, there’s been a bit of a problem” said Osiris. “While Sekhmet has indeed carried out your wise plan and killed the evil ones who plotted against the order of the universe, she has, umn, gotten a bit carried away. In fact we can’t stop her from killing people, it seems she has gotten a taste for human blood.”
“Oh dear, well this wont do. And none of you can stop her eh? All right, I’ll just get the Eye of Ra and stop her with that.”
“Er, she has the Eye of Ra, that’s why we can’t stop her, oh mighty and aged one.”
“All right then, I have a cunning plan. Bastet, bring in the harvest and start making as much beer as possible. Seth, go and fetch as much red dye as you can. And Apis…”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Prepare a flood!”
…
And so it came to pass. The beer was dyed red and put into the Nile. And a great flood came upon the river and it burst its banks spilling the red beer all over the land. When Sekhmet saw this she thought it was blood and quickly ran over to drink it. And so she did, gallons and gallons of beer, she drank it all, reveling in the taste, not noticing that it was not the blood of humanity. Eventually she grew quite drunk and collapsed, and as she was asleep, Ra took back his magical Eye and Sekhmet became Hathor once again.
The next day while Hathor the beautiful stayed at home nursing a hangover, Ra addressed the gods.
“My fellow immortals, through my own negligence the humans were nearly wiped from the face of the world. Never again should this happen, and rather than make some grandiose promise (which some other god will only end up breaking) I shall instead retire. Geb, my grandson, will become the new King of the Gods and rule in my stead. As for me I shall go up into the heavens and flow through the sky each day, watching over you all.”
And so he did, and the Gods never again made such a mistake as to nearly kill the people they so loved.
This story demonstrates transmutation of the goddesses from one to another, and again in return. Hence, the Egyptians did not make a sharp distinction between deities, but accepted them as miscellaneous appearances depending of the moment and the moment’s needs. The Egyptian mythology is plenty with such stories, some of them very old – from Old kingdom!
The transmutation between Sekhmet and Hathor is very important, because the translation of line 13 in the Dream Stele should be “… which we bear to it: bulls… and all young vegetables; and that, whom we will glorify… Khatri the statue, made into the name Atom- chorus -em-Aketa…”
The Sphinx should be representation of the supreme goddess that is permitted possesses manifestations as Sekhmet, Hathor, Neith, and so on …
Not occasionally in the mortal temples of the great pyramids had places for the statues of the pharaohs and for Hathor.
The name Sekhmet is very appealing for our investigation!
We do not know how exactly was pronounced this name. We do not know whether it was noun, proper noun, clarification noun, adjective, epithet, metaphor…
In congruence with Egyptian writing rules, the name is written “s-k-h-m-t-“.
The inserting of “e” on the first and fourth place is preference of the Egyptologists.
Meanwhile, the positions for vowels are five – that means possible variants of the name are none less than 625! Detailed study of all probable forms is lumber work and not appropriate in the current exposition.
As I am not professional Egyptologist, I will permit to me myself some freedom of thinking.
It is fascinating idea to get that this name is derived from Sa-Ka-Hu-Ma-Ta.
Sa – is meaning “child” and is accepted as symbol of Protection
Ka – Supreme Soul
Hu – symbol of the God Principles/creativeness
Ma – righteousness, truth
Ta – true measure, true dimension
And this rendition is in accordance with narrated story.
The reader should take sense that he/she is reading “The Holy Wright”. From here are many features in the Bible.
Next is some more about Sekhmet – terrible Goddess, impersonation of all goddesses, confidante of Ra, performer of the Divine Will!
The Egyptians associated the creation of the desert with her breath.
She was also regarded as being the protector of the royalty and their leader in warfare.
The fierce warrior goddess was also considered a solar deity. The Egyptians drew association between Sekhmet and other deities such as Bast and Hathor. Sekhmet was responsible for bearing the solar disk and she gained her association with the royalty and Wadjet by being the bearer of Uraeus. This is why she was also considered a divine character of order and justice (reincarnation of the Maat). She was also connected with Tefnut through the eye of Horus.
In later dynasties, the Egyptians started to associate Sekhmet with the Sun God Ra!
They believed that she was the daughter of the most powerful deity for the Egyptians. This new belief came into existence when the cult of Sekhmet joined forces with the worshipers of Horus.
She was a sun goddess, embodying the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. Fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Like the sun, her temper was uncontrollable.
Sekhmet reached the zenith of her popularity in the 12-th dynasty during the reign of Amenemhat I. It was during this time that a dedicated cult of followers of Sekhmet had attained ruling authority over Egypt. They decided to shift the capital of Egypt from its previous location to the headquarters of Sekhmet’s cult, which was in Itjtawy. Source
Originally, Sekhmet’s domain was in Upper Egypt, which is the region in the south of the country. However, with the passage of time, Upper Egypt actually conquered the delta region, which was classified as Lower Egypt. This expanded the domain of Sekhmet and made her more powerful than two warrior goddesses combined – Menhit "she who massacres" and Neith, goddess of creation, hunting and the dead; associated with wars.
Following this expansion in Sekhmet’s domain, she was now being considered as the sole avenger of wrongs and acquired the title of “Scarlet Lady”. The latter title was given to her because of her lust for blood due to she is also regarded as being the original inspiration for the creation of the vampire.
After taking over Lower Egypt Sekhmet had actually entered into the territory of another female warrior goddess by the name of Bast. Although she could not remove the former governor of Lower Egypt, Bast’s role was restricted to being a lesser deity. Bast is a catlike goddess, daughter of the sun god "Ra". Bast was originally a lion goddess, but after 1000 B.C. as her cult developed, she became more associated with the cat and was considered the center counterpart of the lion goddess Sekhmet.
The domestic cat attained special significance as the sacred animal of the Goddess Bast. Hundreds of figures were set up as votive offerings in the temple at Bubastis in order that the donor might share in the Goddess's grace. Actual mummies of cats were buried by the thousands in special cemeteries in the area.
During this time, the role of many Egyptian deities and mythological characters was being changed. These changes continued to occur with the advent of the Greeks into the Egyptian land.
The name Sekhmet traditionally translates as “the one who is powerful”. However, this is not precise translating, and is more subjected to many roles of this goddess.
She was also given a number of other titles such as “The Mistress of the Dead” (actually Meretseger), “Lady of Slaughter” and the “One Before Whom Evil Trembles”.
In her row, Meretseger – Goddess of Punishment and Mercy, Protectress of the Necropolis Under the Peak of the West (the cemetery) – believed to be very important deity. Sometimes she is merged with Sekhmet, but rests with traditional iconography as serpent.
Most frequently, Meretseger is represented as Lady of the west.
Let us see portrait made for Meretseger by Caroline Seawright: Source
Meretseger (Mertseger, Merseger, Mereseger) was the ancient Egyptian goddess of the necropolis at Waset (Thebes). She watched over the deceased in their tombs, protecting them and their belonging from tomb robbers. She also protected the area from criminals and oath breakers, striking all those with evil intent down with snakebites or with blindness. The workers of Deir el Medina feared her wrath, begging for her forgiveness and a cure for blindness or venomous bites, believing that she had struck them down. They believed she was a merciful goddess who would cure them if they were repentant. Her reach did not extend beyond the necropolis, so she was not worshiped throughout Egypt. Mostly the people, who worked in the necropolis, building and decorating the tombs of the New Kingdom pharaohs, revered her. Meretseger was generally shown as a coiled cobra, or as a cobra with a woman's head. Sometimes she was shown in cobra form with head and arm projecting from the hood of the cobra. At other times she was shown as a snake, with three heads - that of a woman, that of a cobra and that of a vulture. On occasion she was also shown as a cobra headed woman or as a full woman, though this is very infrequent. Her name, 'She Who Loves Silence', comes from mr 'love' (with the feminine t ending) and sgr 'quiet'. She was believed to live on a certain peak, shaped like a pyramid (which has the sound mr, so this could be a pun on Meretseger's name), on the mountain chain above the Valley of Kings. At times, she was known as her dwelling place - 'The Peak of the West' - as a term of respect. This also connected her with the peak in the Egyptian mind, making them one. It also meant that her worship was focused around Waset, and she only had power over the royal necropolis there. After all, the other deities were generally not fixed to a specific geographical location. While they were worshiped mainly at one city or another, they were not the personification of that city. Meretseger, on the other hand, became the personification of the peak. She did not move - the people who revered had to be near the peak.) A deity of protection, she was thought to guard the tombs in the Valley of the Kings from the heights of the mountain that overlooked the royal necropolis. The workers at the village at the necropolis left steles dedicated to her, worshiping her as a dangerous, merciful goddess. Yet they were fearful of her. They believed that she would strike down those who desecrated the sacred tombs, poisoning them with her snakebites or scorpion stings, or striking them down with blindness. These same fates were reserved for those who committed any crime, or those who swore false oaths. Yet she was merciful to the repentant, curing them of the results of her anger - many stelae frequently seek to make atonement for their wrongdoings. The people stepped lightly around this goddess.
However, let us return to my loved goddess – Sekhmet. Along with her husband, the creator-god Ptah and their son Nerfertum, she was part of the powerful trio of deities that protected Ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt. Nearby to the Sphinx and Great pyramids.
The female goddess was also considered a special deity for women because she was supposed to be ruling over menstruation as well. She was renowned as Goddess of Transformation and Healing and was associated with the "fire in the belly" that ignites the kundalini energies. She is known as the destroyer of evil and healer of all things. Source
She is most commonly depicted in the form of a lioness and was regarded as being the fiercest of all hunters. Frequently, she was represented as having the head of a lioness and the body of a female human. A serpent sits upon her head. Again parallels with Meretseger.
Alternative Names for Sekhmet were:
Beloved Sekhmet, Destroyer by Fire, Awakener, Ruler of Lions, Great One of Healing, Burner of Evildoers, Protectress of Divine Order…
The last is parallel with Ma’at. In her row, Ma'at, seemed to be more of a concept than an actual goddess. Her name literally meant “truth” in Egyptian. She was truth, order, balance and justice personified. She was harmony, she personified what was right, and she was what things should be. It was thought that if Ma'at did not exist, the universe would become chaos, once again.
She was judge at the Egyptian underworld at the Halls of Ma'ati or Halls of the Double Ma'at. The dead person's heart was placed on a scale, balanced by Ma'at herself, or by the Feather of Ma'at (her symbol that she wore on her head was an ostrich feather). In life, it was the pharaohs' duty to uphold Ma'at. "I have done Ma'at" had been spoken by several pharaohs, as well as being called "beloved of Ma'at".
Now, we see that Sekhmet appears as manifestation of Ma’at!
King Amenhotep III especially revered Sekhmet, as he had an enormous quantity of statues. Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project, directed by Dr. Hourig Sourouzian, has unearthed more than 80 statues of the goddess Sekhmet during their excavations at the temple. It has been suggested that the Sekhmet’s statues were erected because Amenhotep III was very sick during his final years. Source
This deity was highly regarded trough all Egyptian history.
Only in Temple of Mut in Karnak had originally been 730 statues – one seated and one standing for each day of the year! May be they were part of a ritual intended to pacify the fiery goddess.
This is interesting – big number statues of Sekhmet in the temple of Mut …
Nearly 600 of these statues have now been accounted for. The British museum has fragments of over 20, the largest collection outside Egypt, where a considerable number of the original group can still be seen in situ. Source Source2
One is in Metropolitan museum, more in the Vatican Museum, in Sistine Chapel, in Vatican gardens, some in private collections.
The sculptures of Sekhmet are scattered all around the world!
The museums and homes are inundated with countless number of small statuettes of Sekhmet. Big part of them are contemporary production. The presence of the Sekhmet in jewelry manufacture is abundant. Nice example is demonstrated in private Barakat Collection where diminutive electrum amulet is a masterpiece of intricacy. Originally, ancient statuettesa would have been attached to a small base, perhaps inserted into a shrine of sorts, as indicated by the pin underneath her feet. She is depicted with the head of a lion and the body of a human wearing a long, close fitting robe. Represented seated, she holds long stemmed lotus bud in her right hand. The features of the lioness are remarkably naturalistic, and yet, at the same time, we can sense the power of her divinity. Perhaps this pendant once stood on a shrine inside the house of a high-ranking official from the city of Memphis. Surely, given the inherent value of the material, the symbolic significance of Sekhmet, and the absolute mastery of the carving, this pendant could only have been possessed by an elite member of Ancient Egyptian society. Certain objects, masterpieces treasured in their own time, are of an eternal beauty that is easily appreciated regardless of era or culture.
This chapter appears partially as chaos and makes a sense of heaped notions. I please to excuse me for this condition of the text. Such condition is unavoidable in the case one wish to save purity of sources. In addition, they are many and many…
The Egyptian culture lasted long time and rested many monuments in countless number of variants. The legends and speculations over died culture are unrestrained. The investigation is not easy.
Let us to repeat briefly:
Sekhmet is a sun goddess, embodying the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. Fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Like the sun, her temper was uncontrollable. The Egyptians associated the creation of the desert with her breath.
Protector of the royalty and their leader in warfare.
A special deity for women because she was supposed to be ruling over menstruation as well. She was renowned as Goddess of Transformation and Healing. She is known as the destroyer of evil and healer of all things.
She was depicted in the form of a lioness. Frequently, she was represented as having the head of a lioness and the body of a female human. A serpent sits upon her head.
She is named:
Beloved Sekhmet, Destroyer by Fire, Awakener, Ruler of Lions, Great One of Healing, Burner of Evildoers, Protectress of Divine Order, The Mistress of the Dead, Lady of Slaughter, One Before Whom Evil Trembles.
She merged with Hathor, Bast, Menhit, Neith, Meretseger …
Are you know better candidate for the Great Sphinx?
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