The pantheon of Egyptian gods is characterized by an abundance and variety of characters. Among them is Osiris, treacherously murdered by his own brother and resurrected thanks to the efforts of the beautiful wife Isis. There is a mighty Horus, a god, often portrayed as a falcon, who defied the all-powerful Seth, his own uncle, and who managed to defeat him in a fair fight. The dead in the underworld was accompanied by the jack-headed Anubis. There are several little-known gods and goddesses, with one of whom, Sekhmet, we offer to meet you.
Description
The goddess Sekhmet patronized the war and the hot sun, her main epithets being “mighty”, “ruthless”, “harsh”. It embodied the destructive power of the hot sun, was the mistress of the desert. The Egyptians believed that the goddess was familiar with magic and could use spells. Often portrayed in the guise of a woman with the head of a lioness. On separate frescoes or sculptures it is presented in the form of a lioness or a lion-like goddess with a cobra.
Appointment
Goddess Sekhmet plays a huge role in the mythology of ancient Egypt. At various times she had a different purpose:
- It was considered the patroness of the war.
- She was the goddess of heat, desert and drought.
- She represented the mistress of pestilence and epidemics.
- She had healing skills and could heal people, so she was considered the patroness of doctors.
- She was perceived as the patroness of the army, accompanied the pharaoh during the campaigns, bringing success to his army. Therefore, Sekhmet’s anger was terrible - a military victory could not be expected.
- It was also believed that with her fiery breath, the harsh goddess destroyed all life in order to give birth to a new life.
- The Book of the Dead describes Sekhmet as the protector of Ra from the evil serpent Apophis.
In addition, Sekhmet was considered the patroness of the capital of Egypt, Memphis, so the cult of the goddess was especially popular in this city. She was also revered in Heliopolis. The festival of the goddess was January 7th.
Temper
It is known that the goddess Sekhmet was one of the most bloodthirsty deities of the country of the pyramids. So, in one of the myths, angry at people who became disrespectful with the gods, the great Ra pulled out his eye and threw it to the ground. The eye of God turned into the harsh Sekhmet, she began with pleasure to destroy the unwanted humanity. When the gods poured red wine on the ground, the lioness goddess, mistaking it for blood, eagerly attacked the drink and began to drink it. Only drunk and asleep, she stopped the bloodshed. According to another version of the myth, beer was poured, which acquired a blood-red hue due to the characteristics of the Egyptian soil.
In the era of the Middle Kingdom, the goddess was credited with the functions of protecting Egypt from external attacks, so Sekhmet was portrayed with burning arrows. Often, priests turned to this goddess when it was necessary to protect Egyptian land from invaders. However, in her anger she was scary, could send pestilence or epidemics to people, her breathing caused winds from the desert, entailing drought and heat. Therefore, the rulers of the country of the pyramids tried to appease the wayward goddess with rich victims and the construction of temples. It was also believed that she patronizes the capital of Egypt - Memphis and the whole of Upper Egypt.
Mythology ascribes to Sekhmet an amazing power, so even the negative representatives of the pantheon, Seth and the snakes Apop, feared her wrath.
Pantheon spot
Sekhmet, according to Egyptian mythology, was the daughter of sunny Ra, the wife of the creator god, Pt. In later eras, it was often portrayed as the victors of all those who dared to challenge the gods.
Is a representative of the so-called Creative (Solar) Triad of Egypt, which also included the following deities:
- God Ptah, husband Sekhmet, the demiurge (creator), is hardly mentioned in prayers, but was revered as the creator of all things.
- Nefertum, patron of vegetation.
The Triad was most respected in Memphis and was perceived as the patroness of the pharaohs. Each of the deities of the Triad symbolized its element. So, Sekhmet was identified with fire, her husband Pta - with the elements of the earth, so the union of the spouses symbolized the unity of the creative and destructive principles. Nefertum symbolized the water element. Interestingly, the lion was also the sacred animal of this young vegetation god, and he was often portrayed as the lion-headed, like his warlike mother.
Sacred animals, attributes
The main sacred animal of the bloody goddess was a lion, therefore in Heliopolis, where her temple was located, these animals were kept by priests. The killing of a lion was unacceptable. Since Sekhmet was sometimes identified with the goddess Hathor, the cat was another sacred animal. The goddess was the eye of Ra, she herself patronized the hot sun, so she was often portrayed with a solar disk on her head. In her hands was a sharp sword, a dagger, and later - burning arrows. In many images, the goddess holds ankh in one hand, and a papyrus scepter in the other.
The color of the goddess Sekhmet, the patroness of Memphis is sunny orange, similar to the color of a scorching sun at its zenith. Juniper was considered its tree, the berries of which were used by healers, stone was flint, from which at that time the simplest surgical instruments were made, including devices for embalming. Therefore, it can be noted that in the minds of the ancient Egyptians the lioness goddess was directly related to medicine. She could both reward humanity and destroy the rebellious, sending an epidemic.
Temples Sekhmet
Since the goddess Sekhmet was one of the most revered representatives of the Egyptian pantheon, a large number of temples were built for her. Often sanctuaries were erected in the desert, where the sacred animals of the mistress, wild lions, lived.
Such a historical fact is known: the pharaoh Amenhotep the Third, wishing to appease the goddess and save his country from a terrible epidemic, ordered to make about 700 of its statues.
The temple in Karnak has survived in good condition, the main decoration of which is the statue of Sekhmet with a solar disk on his head.
Goddess cult
According to scientists, it is with the name of this harsh and tough goddess that human sacrifice in ancient Egypt is associated. However, the cult of Sekhmet also brought benefits to the inhabitants of the country of the pyramids. So, the goddess was revered as a conqueror of healing, therefore, medical science was actively developing in her temples, and the priests were often good healers for that time.
In the largest temples of the goddess of Egypt, Sekhmet, a special Greek caste, red priests, who discovered secret knowledge from the fields of surgery, medical practice and even exorcism, was trained.
The goddesses with whom Sekhmet was identified
The mythology of Egypt has a complex character, since it was created over many centuries and was repeatedly modified. That is why the goddess Sekhmet was often identified with other deities of the pantheon. First of all, it is Bastet, the cat goddess, the patroness of love, family life and home. The version was put forward that Bastet is a peaceful version of Sekhmet. What do goddesses have in common:
- Both were daughters of Ra.
- Both were often depicted with the heads of lionesses. Later, when the cat was tamed, Bastet acquired the appearance of a pet.
- Bastet in some cities was revered as the goddess of war.
- The sacred animals of both goddesses belong to the cat family.
The second representative of the Egyptian pantheon, with whom Sekhmet was identified, is the goddess Hathor, the patroness of wine and fun, who initially had a completely independent character and was depicted in the image of a cow or woman whose head was decorated with horns. Both goddesses were considered daughters of the sun, later, when the cult of Ra became the most significant in Egypt, Hathor was identified with Sekhmet, and the images of the goddess appeared with the head of a cat or lioness. She began to be perceived as the patroness of the pharaohs.
Sometimes Sekhmet was identified with Tefnut, who was called the wife of the god Ptah and daughter Ra. She was portrayed more often in the form of a woman with a cat's head, sometimes it was not Pta who was considered her husband, but Shu, the god of air, who was later rethought as the patron saint of the midday sun. The center of veneration of Tefnut was Heliopolis.
Children Sekhmet
According to mythology, Sekhmet - the patroness of Memphis - had several children. Her son from Pta, Nefertum, has already been mentioned. Also, some myths attribute the birth of the lion goddess to the birth of the god Heck, the patron saint of magic. According to other versions, his mother was the goddess Menhit, also represented in the image of a warlike lioness. Sources are also called the sons of Sekhmet Ihi and even Horus, although in classical myths they are children of Hathor and Isis, respectively.
Often her son is called the god Mahes, who was also depicted with the head of a lion, was the patron saint of the war, fought with the serpent Apopus (in other variations, this function was performed by Sekhmet herself).
Many sculptural images of the goddess of the scorching sun have survived to this day, so we can clearly imagine what, according to the ancient Egyptians, she looked like. The role of this goddess in the history of ancient Egyptian civilization can be called significant. It was in her temples that the wise priests for years comprehended the science of healing. Of course, medicine of those times was available only to the elite, but the knowledge transferred from one generation of the priestly caste to another had a significant impact on the development of medicine in subsequent eras. A great deal of information has survived about Sekhmet, but the myths are so contradictory that we can only guess what were the original functions of this bloodthirsty and harsh goddess.