Lions in Ancient Egypt

Today I went to an "Uncovering Egypt" exhbit at my local museum and it got me thinking.  The Ancient Egyptians used to treat cats as though they were gods, lions are cats.. let's link the two!
One of the famous Egyptian gods was Sekhmet, a lioness headed goddess of war yet also of medicine in Lower Egypt. Sekhmet was often thought of at the mother of another, yet less popular lion god, Maahes.

As with many other cultures, in Ancient Egypt lions were often associated with royalty and were symbols of the Pharaoh due to their symbol strength and fierceness; attributes there Pharaoh was expected to have.

Another famous representation of lions in Ancient Egypt was the sphinx. Mythical creatures whom stood guard outside the pyramids with a lion's body and a human head.