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Material : Gold
Height : 7 . 2
Found in : Tanis , Tomb of Psusennes I , Grave of Undjebauendjed (1946)
Period : Third Intermediate Period
Reign of : Psusennes I
Dynasty: XXI
Belonged_to: Undjebauendjed
Archeologist : P . MONTET
Among other gold and silver vases , jars , finger sheaths , sandals , masks and jewelry , this stunning gold pendant was found within the great corpus of grave goods of Undjebauendjed in the Tomb of Psusennes I , in Tanis . Undjebauendjed was the army's general of king Psusennes I , the third king of the Twenty-first Dynasty . He was an important figure in the court . He held the titles: "The Prophet of Khonsu" , "The General of the Armies" , "The Head of the Pharaoh's Archers" , "The Director of the Prophets of all the Gods" and "The Justified of the House of Osiris , lord of Mendes" . In his tomb , which was found by Montet in 1939 inside the Tomb of Psusennes I , was found a stunning silver sarcophagus belonging to King Sheshonq II (of the Twenty-Second Dynasty) .
This marvelous pendant in modeled into a statuette of goddess Sekhmet , the wife and sister of god Ptah . Her name means "to be strong , mighty , and violent" . Usually she is depicted as a lion-headed woman dressed in red with a solar disk and a uraeus or cobra over her head and carrying the ankh (the sign of life) . The reason for her great role in the ancient Egyptian mythology is the belief that she was the beloved daughter of Ra whose destructive power was used for attacking his enemies and punishing those who disobey him . Among the name she was known for in the ancient mythology: "Great Lady" , "the Holy Powerful One" and many other names . Often given the name 'the Eye of Ra' , Sekhmet is thought to be the daughter of Ra that supposedly represented the traditional evil eye , the eye represents the god at attacking his foes .
This pendant pictures the goddess with a woman's body and a lioness' head , wrapped in a long tight garment with her hands down her sides . Over her head , she wears the sun disk with a uraeus serpent (a symbol of protection against evil influences) in the center . Hanging down from her smooth neck is a clearly defined necklace .
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