Luxurious Lioness: Crafting a Sekhmet Crown Fit for a Goddess

One of the oldest Egyptian goddesses, Sekhmet’s (also sometimes spelled Sakmet) origins go back beyond the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3000 BC. Part woman and part lioness, her name is thought to mean “She who is powerful”. The name comes from sekhem which translates as “powerful” or “mighty.” According to myth, this bloodthirsty goddess of war and plague could spread illness or cure it.

Ra grew angry at the people and wanted to punish them for their bad behavior.

At this point, we get several different versions of the myth. Some suggest Sekhmet was created from the fire of the sun god’s eye when he looked on Earth in anger. Other stories suggest Sekhmet was the female form of Ra sent to Earth. Sometimes she is also thought of as the daughter of the earth and sky.

Whatever the case, she was sent by Ra to take vengeance on the poorly behaving humans.

The Origin of Sekhmet

Nicknamed the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet was the daughter of the sun god, Ra– which is probably why she wears a red sun disk on her head.

Legend says, that first Ra created people from the tears of his eyes. Sadly, the humans quickly stopped respecting Ra and following his laws and Ma’at. (For the Egyptians, Ma’at represented justice, balance and order.)

Sekhmet's Wrath

As a goddess of war and rath, she devastated the Earth unleashing chaos, plagues and hot dessert winds. Worst of all she enjoyed the taste of blood and started feasting on the people of the world.

When Ra saw the destruction, he regretted his decision, he had after all created the humans. Ra ordered Sekhmet to stop. But her desire for blood and revenge over came her and she simply could not stop.

Ra had to do something or soon all the Earth would be a people-less wasteland. Quick thinking Ra, decided to poor 7000 jugs of beer mixed with pomegranate juice into the sand. Seeing the red liquid, Sekhmet mistook it for blood and slurped it up. The beer in mixture made her drunk and she feel asleep for three days. When she woke, her anger had subsided and she was now longer in a bloodlust frenzy.

Many of her names show how powerful this goddess was: ‘She Before Whom Evil Trembles’, ‘Mistress of the Dead’, ‘The Mauler’ and “Lady of Slaughter’. To appease the goddess, an annual festival held in her honor involved giving Sekhmet beer and pomegranates. Some suggest the festival happen at the start of the year when the Nile appeared blood red because of silt in the river coming from the upstream waters. Music and dancing were probably part of the celebration and thousands of people from all levels of society would take part.

Many famous pharaohs attempted to harness the power of Sekhmet. Ramesses II wore Sekhmet images and invoked her presence in paintings showing the Battle of Kadesh. Evidence also suggests that Amenhotep III may have commissioned more than 700 statutes of the goddess! Priests also sacrificed animals to the goddess to quench her bloodlust.