Main Menu

Fragment of statue of Sakhmet

Skip to main content
Collections Menu

Fragment of statue of Sakhmet

Place of OriginEgypt, probably from Luxor
DateDynasty 18, reign of Amun-hotep III, about 1350 BCE
DimensionsH: 25 in. (63.5 cm)
MediumGranodiorite
ClassificationSculpture
Credit LineGift of Miss Edith Morgan
Object number
1927.153
On View
Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic
Collections
  • Sculpture
Published References

Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 1919, Part II, gives full particulars on such statues.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 62, repr. (det., col.) pp. 16, 62.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Simpson, William Kelly, "A Horus-of-Nekhen Statue of Amenhotep III from Soleb," Bulletin Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 69, no. 358, 1971, p. 160 and note 14, p. 164.

cf. Lythgoe, A.M., "Statues of the Goddess Sekhmet," Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 14, no. 10, Oct. 1919, pt. 2, pp. 1-23.

cf. "Egyptian Antiquities," Bulletin Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 1, no. 3, 1903, p. 17.

cf. Smith, WIlliam Stevenson, Ancient Egypt as represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 4th ed., Boston, 1960, p. 130, fig. 81.

cf. Fine antiquities including the Mrs. Albert D. Lasker Collection, London, Christies, Dec. 12, 1990, no. 230.

Label TextA powerful goddess of war, vengeance, and protection, Sakhmet was generally depicted with a human body and the head of a wigged lioness. The original location of these figures is not certain, but they probably lined and guarded part of a processional axis leading to one of the great New Kingdom temples at Thebes. These include the majestic temple at Luxor dedicated to Amun-Re, high god of the sun. Its main approach is guarded by sphinxes, which combine the recumbent body of a lion with the head of a pharaoh. At nearby Karnak, the entrance to the gigantic temple of Amun-Re is lined with another type of guardian figure (see photographs): the wigged head of a ram combined with the body of a lion, which supports an image of a pharaoh. Similarly, many seated sculptures of Sakhmet still stand in place at Karnak’s Temple of Mut, the goddess wife of Amun-Re.
Statue of Sakhmet
Dynasty 18 (1570-1340 BCE), 1397-1360 BCE
Statue of Sakhmet
Dynasty 18 (1570-1340 BCE), 1397-1360 BCE
Statue of Tantamani (Tanwetamani)
Third Intermediate Period
c. 750–270 BCE; 712–657 BCE
Fragmentary Statuette of Ramesses II
Unidentified
13th century BCE
Statue of Isis
about 150 CE
Horus
Probably Ptolemaic Dynasty, 305-30 BCE
Statue of a Youth
mid-2nd to early 3rd century CE (Severan?)
Statue of Raramu and Ankhet
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, about 2400 BCE.
Statue of Raramu with Reliefs of His Son and Daughter
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, about 2400 BCE.

Membership

Become a TMA member today

Support TMA

Help support the TMA mission