Sekhmet

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Sekhmet

Egyptian goddess

Also known as: Sakhmet

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Jan 28, 2025 • Article History

Also spelled:: Sakhmet

On the Web:: American Research Center in Egypt - The Statues of Sekhmet: 'Mistress of Dread' (Jan. 28, 2025)

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Sekhmet, in Egyptian religion, a goddess of war and the destroyer of the enemies of the sun god Re. Sekhmet was associated both with disease and with healing and medicine. Like other fierce goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, she was called the “Eye of Re.” She was the companion of the god Ptah and was worshipped principally at Memphis. She was usually depicted as a lioness or as a woman with the head of a lioness, on which was placed the solar disk and the uraeus serpent. Sekhmet was sometimes identified with other Egyptian goddesses, such as Hathor, Bastet, and Mut.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.