Lionesses, much like their human counterparts, hold three corners of the house. What are the personality traits of a lioness? 11 Why do female lions hunt instead of males?.10 What makes lionesses better hunters than lions?.4 Who is more powerful lion or lioness?.1 What are the personality traits of a lioness?.Sekhmet was also sometimes reported to have been the mother of an obscure lion god called Maahes, who was a patron and protector of the pharaoh, while other texts state that the pharaoh himself was conceived by Sekhmet.

Her ability for healing was so valued that Amenhotep III had hundreds of Sekhmet statues made to place in his funerary temple in the Western Bank near Thebes as a means of protecting him in the afterlife. As the patron of physicians and healers, when in a calmer state she would take on the form of the household cat goddess Bastet.ДЄn ancient epithet reads that she was the вЂMistress of LifeвЂ™. Though Sekhmet could visit disasters upon those who angered her, she could also avert plague and cure diseases for her friends. Sekhmet is also the patron of physicians and healers As such, her nicknames the вЂLady of PestilenceвЂ™ and вЂRed LadyвЂ™ allude not only to her plague-making but to blood and red desert land. It was also said that she visited disease upon those individuals who angered her. However, sometimes striving for this balance led to her adopting extreme policies such as introducing plagues, which were referred to as вЂmessengersвЂ™ or вЂslaughterersвЂ™ of Sekhmet. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Sekhmet is described as a keeper of cosmic balance, MaвЂ™at. Image Credit: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Sekhmet could bring plagues to those who angered her The Pharaon Tutankhamun destroying his enemies, painting on wood Sekhmet was also the wife of Ptah, the god of artisans, and the mother of lotus god Nefertum. When she awoke, her bloodlust was sated and humanity was saved. Sekhmet gorged on the вЂbloodвЂ™ so much that she became drunk and slept for three days. SekhmetвЂ™s bloodlust was so strong that she wouldnвЂ™t listen, until Ra poured 7,000 jugs of beer and pomegranate juice (the latter of which stained the beer blood red) into her path. However, Ra was not a cruel god, and the sight of the carnage made him regret his decision and order Sekhmet to stop. The result was Sekhmet, who devastated Earth: she had a taste for blood and flooded the world with it. As punishment, he sent an aspect of his daughter, the вЂEye of RaвЂ™, to earth in the form of a lion. Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god, became angry because humanity wasnвЂ™t following his laws and preserving MaвЂ™at (balance or justice). So, who was Sekhmet? According to Myth, Sekhmet is RaвЂ™s daughter Highly feared and celebrated in equal measure, she is sometimes referred to in Egyptian texts as вЂShe Before Whom Evil TremblesвЂ™, the вЂMistress of DreadвЂ™, вЂThe MaulerвЂ™ or the вЂLady of SlaughterвЂ™.

Sekhmet is most commonly depicted as a lioness, or a woman with the head of a lion, and her image was commonly used as battle insignia as both a leader in warfare and protector of pharaohs. According to myth, Sekhmet, a goddess of war and healing, could both spread disease and cure it, and more widely wield extreme destruction or award protection. Her name deriving from the word for вЂpowerfulвЂ™ or вЂmightyвЂ™, Sekhmet was one of the most prominent goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon.

Lioness goddess