Granite seated statue of Sekhmet

18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III
Provenance unrecorded, but probably Thebes
Granodiorite
H143.0, W42.0, D70.0 cm
EA 65

Seating and standing statues of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet are a common sight in many museums. Most of them were recovered from the temple of Mut at Karnak, where some are still visible. But their original provenance was without doubt the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III at Thebes, where 365 standing and 365 seated Sekhmet figures formed a litany in stone to propitiate the goddess lest she act with the negative power of which she was capable, thereby affecting the king and through him, Egypt.

Amenhotep's temple fell into decay around 100 years after his death, and was used as a convenient statue-quarry by many later pharaohs. Considerable numbers of these statues were moved to the Mut temple, and some kings added their names to the statues in their new locations, although this example is uninscribed. The socket on top of the head was for a headdress, probably a solar disc, made from a separate piece of stone.