This statue was brought from Egypt in 1837 by the Russian traveller Abram Norov. He discovered it in Thebes, the largest city in Ancient Egypt and for centuries its capital. There, on the territory of the chief official holy site in the country (present-day Karnak) that was devoted to the cult of the god Amon-Ra, there stood, on the shore of the sacred Lake Isheru, the temple of Amon's spouse, the goddess Mut. When it was reconstructed in the reign of Amenhotep III (late 15th century B.C.), the temple was adorned with a host of statues of the goddess, depicting her in the form of a lioness-headed woman. Originally Sekhmet-Mut was reckoned to be the daughter of the sun-god Ra. The statue's head was crowned by a sun disc and uraeus (sacred snake) fastened above a tall wig. In her hand the goddess holds an ankh - a symbol of life similar to a cross. The name Sekhmet means "the mighty one". This was a terrible lioness, the goddess of the scorching sun and war.