Hearst Castle - Sekhmet Fountain by danapommet
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Description
Two Sekhmet figures and Two Sekhmet heads form a fountain on the South Esplanade, of the gardens, surrounding the main building. These four pieces date from the Egyptian New Kingdom, about 3,500 years ago. Sekhmet literally translates as "the powerful." Depicted with the body of a woman and the head of a lioness, she was the bloodthirsty protector of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Once the four pieces arrived, American architect Julia Morgan designed this fountain. All four pieces are carved from granite and there is a vein of feldspar in the upper piece. Please zoom.
The Egyptian head on the left is from the 18th Dynasty. The other three pieces are 19th Dynasty. The upper figure, with the vein of feldspar is 5'10-1/2 x 20-1/2" (179.1x52.1cm). The lower figure is 45-1/4 x 17-3/4"(114.9x45.1cm). The chipped head on the left is 19 x 19"(48.3 x 48.3cm) and the head on the right, with sun disk is 23 x 10" (58.4 x 25.4cm). All four pieces are original works of art.
Thanks for stopping by, taking a look and for all your previous favs and comments.
They are very much appreciated.
Dana
Comments (21)
bimm3d
wonderful place!!
Faemike55
Stunning workmanship
alessimarco
Thats's some really old sculptures! Great capture!
Artus1971
oh what a wunderful scene, well done
Chipka
Sekhmet! Yeah, I like her! I like her as much as I like Tefnut (also a lioness) and Sebek (that crocodile dude,) Ra...what's not to like about a sun god with the head of a hawk, and a HUGE solar disk encircled by a cobra!? Of course, there's also Nekhbet--who has an interesting personal connection with me, she was the vulture goddess, and an aspect of her has graced Renderosity...and continues to. And there are the others I didn't exactly name here; throughout their history, the ancient Egyptians worshipped over 460 different gods and goddesses. The ancient Egyptian pantheon is quite a marvelous thing...rather like the bar scene in Star Wars, and this is a great capture of an interesting fountain. I have a LOT of catching up to do, but there was no way I could let myself get away with NOT commenting on this photo. I love the details... This is really well done.
jayfar
Nice shot again Dana.
Katraz
Wonderful statues and some great info but were is the Star Gate.
durleybeachbum
Gosh he was a compulsive collector!
flavia49
fantastic capture!! Sekhmet is one of my favorite Egyptian Goddesses. She caused the accidental discovery of dark (red) beer, the Egyptian beer was red. It is said that humanity had offended Ra as usual, so he ordered Sekhmet to punish the wicked humans. But Sekhmet was so bloodthirsty and she made such a massacre that nearly extinguished mankind. Ra worried that if all humans died,who would have worshipped him? But Sekhmet was too powerful and Ra himself could not stop her after she had been unleashed. Then Ra prepared an intoxicating drink, blood-red colored, beer, which he gave Sekhmet claiming to be blood. The goddess got drunk. Whem she woke up, probably because of the hangover, she left the human race alone and it is said she turned into the cat goddess Bastet, the lustful love goddess.
Erestorfan
Wow...certainly not your every day garden fountain!! Amazing what the rich can buy, huh? These pictures are great. I'll have to visit the Hearst Castle sometime and see all these beautiful things for myself!
Rhanagaz
Great shot of this artwork! Great info, too! ;o)
kbrog
Excellent capture! :)
sandra46
WONDERFUL GODDESS!
npauling
An excellent capture of these very different looking figures.
goodoleboy
Sterling POV, clarity and lighting effects in this pic of the awesome and scary architecture and sculpture, Dana.
MagikUnicorn
WOWWW PRETTY NICE AND CLEAN DO YOU LIKE SCI-FI MOVIE ? S K Y L I N E
jocko500
they had a lot of stone cuts here. wonderful
eekdog
amazing old sculpture dana, really enjoy this shot and history porvided, thank you.
jendellas
he really loved big sculptures, lovely pic!!!!
mgtcs
Fabulous shot my friend, superb capture! Love it!
Iceshark39
This has to be, bar none, one of my favorite pieces in the Hearst collection. I am a follower of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon and it is a wonder that Hearst managed to get these wonderful statues (and pieces) all in one place at the same time...particularly when the world was still 'Egypt crazy'. A really wonderful shot and you've done a masterful job of adding wonderful information about the Goddess. Superbly done.