Understanding the news: 27 more statues of Sekhmet excavated, New Kingdom
This makes a total of 287 statues of the fierce lioness-headed daughter of Ra and consort of Ptah found at the site of Amenhotep III's now largely ruined mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile since excavations began in 1998.
If you have seen pictures of the so called "Colossi of Memnon" then you have seen the site of this temple which is being excavated by Hourig Sourouzian (Director of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project at Kom el Hettan).
Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri announced that the statues were all made of black granite and were up to 2m tall. Sourouzian noted that the statues varied in preservation with those found in upper strata in better condition than those in lower ones.
The Mortuary temple served the cult of the ka of the King who was buried in the distant mountains to the west in the Valley of the Kings and served as an interface to facilitate and ongoing relationship between the living and their king.
Sekhmet is a solar goddess of divine judgement who punishes the enemies of the supreme god Ra. She has a dual nature, as the bringer of disease, misfortune and pestilence to the enemies of the gods, she was also considered the patron of healers and doctors and many medical papyri include prayers and rituals designed to appease Sekhmet on behalf of the patient as part of treatment regimes. Her unique position of power in the Egyptian pantheon is indicated by her iconography of solar disk and uraeus (cobra).
Further reading:
Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III World Monument Fund:
https://www.wmf.org/project/mortuary-temple-amenhotep-iii
http://www.egyptindependent.com/27-statues-of-goddess-sekhmet-unearthed-in-luxor/
This makes a total of 287 statues of the fierce lioness-headed daughter of Ra and consort of Ptah found at the site of Amenhotep III's now largely ruined mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile since excavations began in 1998.
If you have seen pictures of the so called "Colossi of Memnon" then you have seen the site of this temple which is being excavated by Hourig Sourouzian (Director of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project at Kom el Hettan).
Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri announced that the statues were all made of black granite and were up to 2m tall. Sourouzian noted that the statues varied in preservation with those found in upper strata in better condition than those in lower ones.
The Mortuary temple served the cult of the ka of the King who was buried in the distant mountains to the west in the Valley of the Kings and served as an interface to facilitate and ongoing relationship between the living and their king.
Sekhmet is a solar goddess of divine judgement who punishes the enemies of the supreme god Ra. She has a dual nature, as the bringer of disease, misfortune and pestilence to the enemies of the gods, she was also considered the patron of healers and doctors and many medical papyri include prayers and rituals designed to appease Sekhmet on behalf of the patient as part of treatment regimes. Her unique position of power in the Egyptian pantheon is indicated by her iconography of solar disk and uraeus (cobra).
Further reading:
Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III World Monument Fund:
https://www.wmf.org/project/mortuary-temple-amenhotep-iii
http://www.egyptindependent.com/27-statues-of-goddess-sekhmet-unearthed-in-luxor/
All the archologists had been Adopted as a tourist campaign calling for maintaining the artifacts found in Amenhotep III's temple on its site and wish to support all lovers and lovers effects of Luxor, I trust the political leadership's decision to leave these rare pieces in their original location to a new shrine in the capital of the world "effects.
ReplyDeleteTourism Marketing Committee Chairman pointed out that the European mission in the temple headed by Dr sorozian horig, recently discovered 62 statue of the Goddess Sekhmet and about 26 King Amenhotep III statue than found before, adding that the work is still continuing, it Temple which is An extension of clossals, as it runs up the mountain along the 3 km and showing km, reveals to us daily for more artifacts.
nerdy pineapple Although both The Sphinx and Sekhmet have lion features, they are in fact separate entities. Sekhmet is a lion headed goddess, daughter of Ra, while the Sphinx is a lion bodied manifestation of either the king and/or kingly power - in which case it may have a male or female head (a Sphinx of Hatshepsut for example has the Queen's features). Although textual references from when the Sphinx was first made are now lost to us, a big clue as to its identity and purpose can be found in the New Kingdom, when it was known as Hor-em-akhet (Horus-of-the Horizon). (This could also still be a reference to kings as a ruler is the earthly embodiment of Horus).
ReplyDeleteWhen commenting on my posts, please do use textual, archaeological or published scientific evidence to support your points.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to express your political opinions elsewhere, they are of no relevance to this Collection.
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