The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum is organizing a lecture entitled “The Statues of the Goddess Sekhmet in Alexandria” on Tuesday, 10 April 2018 at 12:00 noon at the BA Floating Room in the Third Floor (F3). It will be delivered by Dr. Magda Abdallah, Professor of the History and Antiquities of Egypt and the Ancient Near East, Head of the History Department, Faculty of Arts, Kafr el-Sheikh University.
The researcher will discuss the statues of Sekhmet in Alexandria and their relation with the place and Amenhotep III, and present a new theory to interpret the inscriptions on the throne of this goddess. It should be noted that this goddess in particular was worshiped since the Old Kingdom and was described as the goddess of war. She was given several titles in the Egyptian texts, such as: the Powerful, the Eye of Ra, the Vengeful and the Burner of Evildoers. Sekhmet was also regarded as the goddess of terror and unexpected diseases.
On the other hand, the Ancient Egyptians considered her a protector of the Egyptian King since his birth, especially at the beginning of the new year. The statues of this goddess were depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness all over Egypt, from Aswan to Alexandria. Sekhmet statues were notably widespread in the era of Amenhotep III – the 18th Dynasty from the New Kingdom. Hundreds of her statues were found on the Theban West Bank in Luxor at the Kom el Heittan area and on the Theban East Bank at the Temple of Mut in Karnak.