<em>Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet</em>, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E. Granodiorite, 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1991.311. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg)

Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E. Granodiorite, 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1991.311. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is the Sekhmet statue here from the same collection as The Met's statues?

Yes! The King Amunhotep III commissioned between 600 and 730 of these statues for his mortuary temple!

Sakhmet was primarily a protector of Egypt, but she was also associated with medicine and healing. It is known that an epidemic of plague swept through the Near East during Amunhotep III's reign so scholars think the numerous Sakhmets were meant as either a continued protection against disease or as a "thank you" for having already protected him.

I see Thank you very much!

Does the goddess have the head of a lion?

She does! Lionesses were venerated in ancient Egypt for their motherly instincts including both gentle nurturing and fearsome protection. It closely aligned with their understanding of Sakhmet, a goddess responsible for protecting Egypt.

Both lions and cats were renowned for their hunting skills including patience, speed, silence, precision, and ability to see in the dark. The ancient Egyptians ascribed the ferocious aspects to lions, but together they represented a duality and balance important to Egyptian belief.

Thank you!! :)

Isn't Sakhmet associated with violence a bit?

Right! In her role as a protector, she is believed to fiercely defend Egypt from all enemies and typically does so through violence.

Her violence was actually believed to be so relentless as to threaten all life on earth. She had to be placated with offerings like beer dyed red to resemble blood.

I see Thank you very much!

Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

Sakhmet, whose name means “The Powerful One,” wears a sun-disk and cobra on her brow, identifying her as the daughter of the sun-god Re. In her role as the Eye of Re, Sakhmet was dispatched abroad to destroy Egypt’s enemies. Angered because Re set another goddess in her place while she was away, the Eye refused to return and protect Egypt, until pacified by wine, music, and dance. The Egyptians explained the sun’s annual motion toward the south and then back to Egypt as the Eye’s departure and return. In other myths, Re’s Eye symbolized natural phenomena, such as the Nile’s annual flood and the Egyptian new year.

MEDIUM Granodiorite

Possible Place Collected: Thebes (Karnak), Egypt

DATES ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1991.311

CREDIT LINE Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Bust of Sakhmet from a seated statue of the goddess. The goddess is crowned with a sun disk fronted by a uraeus. She wears a tripartite wig, a broad collar necklace, and a dress whose straps are adorned with a rosette over each breast. Condition: Broken off diagonally from lower part of statue, with proper left side preserved to just below shoulder and proper right side to just above elbow. Upper sides and front of uraeus missing; other chips, scratches and abrasions.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E. Granodiorite, 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1991.311. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE front, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is the Sekhmet statue here from the same collection as The Met's statues?

Yes! The King Amunhotep III commissioned between 600 and 730 of these statues for his mortuary temple!

I see Thank you very much!

Does the goddess have the head of a lion?

Thank you!! :)

Isn't Sakhmet associated with violence a bit?

Right! In her role as a protector, she is believed to fiercely defend Egypt from all enemies and typically does so through violence.

Her violence was actually believed to be so relentless as to threaten all life on earth. She had to be placated with offerings like beer dyed red to resemble blood.

I see Thank you very much!