27 fragmented statues of lion goddess found in Egypt

An Egyptian-European mission has discovered 27 fragmented statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet across the Nile from Egypt’s southern city of Luxor, the antiquities ministry says on Sunday.

The statues of the goddess, known as The Lady of War, were found in the ground at the Colossi of Memnon area on the city’s west bank, which used to be a capital for ancient Egypt, the ministry says in a statement.

Sekhmet had the body of a woman and the head of a fierce lioness, with a headpiece featuring the sun disk and was one of the goddesses known as Eyes of Ra, the sun god.

The newly found statues were about two meters (six and a half feet) high and carved in black granite, the ministry says citing Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The statues had the goddess’s head “crowned by a sundisk” while a cobra “adorns her forehead,” Waziri is cited as saying.

— AFP