The Statue of Sekhmet currently housed in the Gallery of Ancient Egypt at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

(ROM) is a life-sized sculpture of one of the oldest known Egyptian

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

. Royal Ontario Museum
"ROM Images"
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''. Retrieved on March 3, 2013. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word "sekhem" (which means "power" or "might") and is often translated as the "Powerful One"."Gods of Ancient Egypt: Sekhmet"
Retrieved on March 8, 2013. Depicted as a woman with the head of a

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ess – sometimes with the addition of a

sun disc A solar symbol is a symbol representing the Sun. Common solar symbols include circles (with or without rays), crosses, and spirals. In religious iconography, personifications of the Sun or solar attributes are often indicated by means of a hal ...

and the uraeus serpent atop her head – Sekhmet is the ancient Egyptian goddess of war who was believed to be a protector of Ma'at (balance or justice) and of the Egyptian people. El Adl, Omar
"Sekhmet's bits: Forgotten statue uncovered"
'' Daily News Egypt'', January 17, 2013. She was also associated with healing and medicine, and her priests were known for being trained doctors and surgeons of remarkable calibre."Sekhmet, Ancient Egyptian Sun Goddess"
. Retrieved on March 10, 2013. The acquisition of this piece of Egyptian art was made possible by the support of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust, and is now one of the museum's iconic objects. The statue dates back to the 18th dynasty (

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

) circa 1360 BCE, during the reign of King Tutankhamun's grandfather,

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

, and is thought to have originated from the Temple of Mut at Karnak, Egypt. The Temple of Mut is perhaps best known for its many statues of Sekhmet, which number in the hundreds."Brooklyn Museum: Features: Mut Precinct"
Retrieved on March 8, 2013. Sekhmet is usually depicted with a lotus flower (symbolising Upper Egypt, the sun, creation, and rebirth) in her right hand, and an ankh (also known as the key of life, which symbolises eternal life) in her left."Egyptian Symbols and Definitions"
Retrieved on March 8, 2013. The statue is made of carved and polished granite and depicts the goddess in a seated position holding only an ankh in her left hand, and stands at a height of about 6 feet (184 cm). The Statue of Sekhmet can be found on Level 3 of the ROM in the Galleries of Africa: Egypt, where close to 2,000 objects from the ROM's Egyptian collection are showcased. The ROM's Egyptian collection comprises approximately 25,000 artefacts."Galleries of Africa: Egypt , Level 3 , Royal Ontario Museum"
Retrieved on March 3, 2013.

References

External links

Royal Ontario Museum official website
{{Royal Ontario Museum iconic objects Sculptures of ancient Egypt Sculptures of Sekhmet Collections of the Royal Ontario Museum Sculptures in Ontario