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Egyptian Artifacts

Amenhotep III and Sekhmet

I have spoken a lot about Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“, because she is my Nonno’s favorite goddess π“ŠΉπ“/religious figure in the Egyptian pantheon! Today we are going to look more into the Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ that can be found in museums all around the world 𓇾𓇾! These particular Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ I am with are at the British Museum, but there are a lot at The MET, Louvre, and Vatican Museums too!Β 

Amenhotep III and Sekhmet
Me with statues of Sekhmet, which were commissioned during the reign of pharaoh Amenhotep III at the British Museum.

During his reign π“‹Ύπ“ˆŽπ“, the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Amenhotep III π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹† had over 730 π“²π“²π“²π“²π“²π“²π“²π“Ž†π“Ž†π“Ž† statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ of Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ made! That is almost two statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ for every π“ŽŸ day 𓉔𓂋𓏺𓇳 of the year! Most of the Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ you see that look like the ones in my picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 above are from this time period!

So why Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“? This is where stuff gets really interesting – Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ was often referred to as the β€œEye of Ra,” because she was created from the sun 𓇳𓏺 god π“ŠΉ Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 eye 𓁹𓏏𓏀 when he looked upon the Earth 𓇾𓇾. The obsession with solar deities π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ didn’t just happen when Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– came to the throne – Akhenaten π“‡‹π“π“ˆ–π“‡³π“…œπ“π“ˆ– was most likely influenced by his father 𓇋𓏏𓀀, Amenhotep III π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹†! The worship 𓇼𓄿𓀒 of the god π“ŠΉ Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛 (and gods π“ŠΉπ“ŠΉπ“ŠΉ like Sobek-Ra) hit its peak during the reign of Amenhotep III π“‡‹π“ π“ˆ–π“Š΅π“‹Ύπ“‹†. 

All of the statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ of Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ are made of black π“†Žπ“…“ granodiorite π“ π“ˆ–π“π“π“ŠŒ, which is not just a coincidence! In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, the color black π“†Žπ“…“ was associated with rebirth π“„Ÿπ“Ώπ“…±. These statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾π“ͺ were most likely connected to the jubilees π“Ž›π“ƒ€π“‹΄π“‚§π“π“Ž±π“‡³π“ͺ (The Heb Sed festival), and contain various epithets on them, such as: 

“The son of Ra Amenhotep, ruler of Thebes beloved of Sekhmet, the great, mistress of the sky, for eternity.”