It is well known that Ancient Egypt is the place where the cat was first originated, and moreover is the place where the cat was domesticated. The high involvement of cats in the life of ancient Egyptians eventually developed to a high degree of respect, which in turn developed to worship. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the cat to the degree that the person who kills a cat is punished with death penalty. The goddess Bastet, which was reprsented as a cat, was worshipped all over Egypt and its cult was highly powerful.

        But, before the cat was originally domesticated and worshipped in Egypt, the cat's bigger relatives, the lions, used to roam the deserts and the Nile delta of Egypt. Lions were highly respected and feared among Ancient Egyptians and the person who was capable of hunting a lion was considered extremely brave and would be rewarded occasionally by the Pharoe. Challenging a lion with that time's weapons, basically bows and arrows, required a lot of courage, especially that most of the lions that used to live at that time were Barbary lions that were more muscular and bigger in size than the normal African lion today.

        The great strength and courage of lions made it clear that lions will play a big role in the life of ancient Egyptians. Even the Pharoes themselves respected the lions and admired their strength and agility. For example, Ramses II and Ramses III kept lions as mascots and moreover they trained them and used them in battles.

        Just as the cat is represented as an important part of the Pharonic religious deity, the lion also played an important role in the relegious activities of the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian temples and monuments made it clear that a lot of the ancient Egyptians' gods were represented as lions or lion hybrids. Lions were usually beleieved to be the protectors of the sun and the solar deities, Horus and Ra. What better evidence of respect for and fear of lions that being represented as a God?

        So, do you have any idea about the Egyptians gods and goddesses that were represented as lions?

SEKHMET

        

        The name Sekhmet means mighty or powerful. She was one of the oldest goddesses in Ancient Egypt and she had a lioness's head. Sekhmet was the goddess of fire whose flames destroy the enemies of the chief of gods, Ra. Sekhmet was feared all over Egypt due to her demolishing power and beign known to have no mercy with her enemeis. On the other hand she was also famous for her healing ability, which was one thing that attracted a lot of Egyptins to her. When the Egyptians needed a more merciful goddess, Sekhmet was subsitituted with the more merciful, still cat figure, goddess Bastet. Later on, Sekhmet joined the goddess Bastet and was seen as a very contrasting pair. They together represented the two faces of the sun: Sekhmet was the cruel and destructive heat of the sun, while Bastet was the warming, lif-giving aspect of the sun. Sekhmet was probably the only pure, non-hybrid lion figuere god or goddess.