Statue of the Goddess Sakhmet

Statue of the Goddess Sakhmet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This statue depicts Sakhmet, the goddess who represented the force of violence and unexpected disaster. Her potential for danger is symbolized by the lion's head with which she is depicted and by the sun disk she wears. Egyptian physicians saw the treatment of illness in part as appeasement of Sakhmet, and for that reason they were usually priests of the goddess. In withholding her power, Sakhmet bestowed life, symbolized by the ankh sign she holds in her left hand.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Statue of the Goddess SakhmetStatue of the Goddess SakhmetStatue of the Goddess SakhmetStatue of the Goddess SakhmetStatue of the Goddess Sakhmet

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.