Sekhmet in Egyptian tradition
War and divine vengeance are among the powers of Sekhmet, an Egyptian deity known as the Powerful One. She is also associated with plague and disease, healing and medicine, and the protection of kings, and her imagery includes the lioness, solar disk, uraeus cobra, flame and ankh. The tale of Ra’s Eye pacified with red beer belongs to Hathor in the supplied account, so it should not be presented as Sekhmet’s story.
The quick answers
Who is Sekhmet?
Sekhmet is an Egyptian deity associated with war and battle, destruction and divine vengeance, plague and disease, healing and medicine, royal protection.Source
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
What is Sekhmet the god of?
war and battle, destruction and divine vengeance, plague and disease, healing and medicine, royal protectionSource
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
What family links are recorded for Sekhmet?
Father: Ra, Spouse: Ptah, 1 child.
Sekhmet’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Sekhmet answers to
Sakhmet
Variant transliteration of Sekhmet's name
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
The Powerful One
The meaning of Sekhmet's name
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
Eye of Ra
Ra's destructive and protective divine force
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
Lady of Flame
Goddess associated with consuming divine fire
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
Mistress of Dread
A title emphasizing her fearsome power
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
The myths of Sekhmet
1 myth, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
The Destruction of Mankind and the Red-Beer Pacification
Humanity plotted against Ra. He summoned the gods and asked their advice. Nun and the other deities told him to send his Eye against the rebels. The Eye descended as Hathor and found the guilty people fleeing into the desert. She attacked them, killed them, and drank their blood. When she returned, she told Ra that she had overcome humanity and had enjoyed the slaughter. Ra declared that he would rule by culling humanity, and the Powerful One came into being.
Hathor planned to continue the killing the next day. During the night, Ra changed his mind and decided to save the survivors. He summoned swift messengers and sent them for a red substance. In one telling, the messengers brought red stone from Elephantine, and Ra ordered the High Priest of Heliopolis to grind it. In another, they brought mandrakes from Abu, and Sekti, a goddess of Heliopolis, crushed them. The red material was put into beer that women had made by grinding grain.
Seven thousand vessels of beer were prepared. The liquid was dyed red and carried to the place where Hathor was still killing people. During the night, it was poured over the meadows of the Four Heavens. At daybreak, Hathor saw what appeared to be a lake of blood. She drank the beer and became drunk. Her heart rejoiced, and she stopped paying attention to men and women. The slaughter ended.
Ra welcomed Hathor in peace and called her Amit, which meant beautiful one. The city of Amit stood in the Western Delta, near Lake Mareotis.

In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 2LEGENDS OF THE GODST1
- 3the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“Ra orders red substance mixed into beer and poured across the meadows, where Hathor drinks it as blood, becomes drunk, and ceases killing humanity.”
the ancient sources
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Sekhmet features, each on that figure’s page.
- Amun Creates Himself · on Amun
- Atum’s Eye Finds Shu and Tefnut · on Atum
- Atum’s Tears Create Humanity · on Atum
- Bastet’s Battle with Apophis · on Bastet
- Hathor Destroys Mankind · on Hathor
- The Birth of Ihy · on Hathor
- The Marriage of Horus and Hathor · on Horus
- The Eye Becomes Sekhmet · on Ra
- The Return of Ra’s Eye · on Ra
- The Birth and Return of Shu and Tefnut · on Shu
- Thoth Gives Writing to the Gods · on Thoth
5 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Sekhmet: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 5 of 5 works.
Film1
- Captain America: Civil WarReference
Television1
- Ronin WarriorsRework
Game2
- Curse of the Pharaoh: Tears of SekhmetRework
- Assassin's Creed OriginsReference
Book1
- Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another WorldRework
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
3 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Sekhmet. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/sekhmet
"Sekhmet." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/sekhmet.
"Sekhmet." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/sekhmet.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Sekhmet embeds here once it publishes.
