Statue of the Goddess Sakhmet
New Kingdom
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.
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