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Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Sakhmet, whose name means “The Powerful One,” wears a sun-disk and cobra on her brow, identifying her as the daughter of the sun-god Re. In her role as the Eye of Re, Sakhmet was dispatched abroad to destroy Egypt’s enemies. Angered because Re set another goddess in her place while she was away, the Eye refused to return and protect Egypt, until pacified by wine, music, and dance. The Egyptians explained the sun’s annual motion toward the south and then back to Egypt as the Eye’s departure and return. In other myths, Re’s Eye symbolized natural phenomena, such as the Nile’s annual flood and the Egyptian new year.
MEDIUM Granodiorite
  • Possible Place Collected: Thebes (Karnak), Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1390-1352 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1991.311
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Bust of Sakhmet from a seated statue of the goddess. The goddess is crowned with a sun disk fronted by a uraeus. She wears a tripartite wig, a broad collar necklace, and a dress whose straps are adorned with a rosette over each breast. Condition: Broken off diagonally from lower part of statue, with proper left side preserved to just below shoulder and proper right side to just above elbow. Upper sides and front of uraeus missing; other chips, scratches and abrasions.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Bust of the Goddess Sakhmet, ca. 1390-1352 B.C.E. Granodiorite, 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 in., 443 lb. (99 x 50.5 x 39.5 cm, 200.94kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. W. Benson Harer, Jr. in honor of Richard Fazzini and the excavations of the Temple of Mut in South Karnak, Mary Smith Dorward Fund and Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 1991.311. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 1991.311_front_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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