Editing Sekhmet (section)

==History==

The first known unambiguous reference to Sekhmet has been found in the mortuary complex of [[Nyuserre Ini]] of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt]].<ref name=Athinodorou303>{{cite book |last=Lange-Athinodorou|first=Eva |date=29 February 2016 |title=Sapientia Felicitas Festschrift für Günter Vittmann |url= |chapter=The Lioness Goddess in the Old Kingdom Nile Delta: A Study in Local Cult Topography |publisher=Les Cahiers Égypte Nilotique et Méditérranéenne|pages=303–304 }}</ref> She seems to have been a comparatively minor figure in the old kingdom, becoming much more significant in the new kingdom.<ref name=Athinodorou304>{{cite book |last=Lange-Athinodorou|first=Eva |date=29 February 2016 |title=Sapientia Felicitas Festschrift für Günter Vittmann |url= |chapter=The Lioness Goddess in the Old Kingdom Nile Delta: A Study in Local Cult Topography |publisher=Les Cahiers Égypte Nilotique et Méditérranéenne|pages=304–305}}</ref> Around 700 (but perhaps significantly more) statues of Sekhmet were constructed for the [[Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III]] during the middle kingdom.<ref name=Ciaccia>{{cite journal | last=Ciaccia | first=Olivia | title=Seeking Sekhmet: The veneration of Sekhmet Statues in contemporary museums | journal=Pomegranate | volume=23 | issue=1–2 | date=2022-04-06 | issn=1743-1735 | doi=10.1558/pome.18653}}</ref>

Sekhmet is worshipped by some modern pagans particularly those who follow [[Goddess movement|Goddess spirituality]].<ref name=Ciaccia /> The worship may involve modern statues of Sekhmet but also of those in museum collections.<ref name=Ciaccia>{{cite journal | last=Ciaccia | first=Olivia | title=Seeking Sekhmet: The veneration of Sekhmet Statues in contemporary museums | journal=Pomegranate | volume=23 | issue=1–2 | date=2022-04-06 | issn=1743-1735 | doi=10.1558/pome.18653}}</ref>