Sekhmet - 'she who is powerful' - was an aggressive solar goddess, who was represented as a woman with the head of a lioness. She often had the sun disk displayed on her head.
These photos show a wonderful seated black granite statue of Sekhmet at the entrance of the Temple of Millions of Years of Ramses III, at Medinet Habu.
Sekhmet was closely associated with kingship and was seen as the patron of the pharaoh and in the Pyramid Texts was named as a parent of the pharaoh when he was reborn in the afterlife.
She was also capable of sending plague and diseases on humanity and as controller of disease demons she was a patron goddess of medicine.
Her name "She Who Dances on Blood" refers to the myth of Ra sending her to destroy mankind. According to the legend, under the rule of Ra, gods and mortals both flourished. Humans however became dissatisfied and plotted against the rule of Ra.
Ra sent his daughter Hathor in the form of Sekhmet to revenge mankind. She hunted down the rebels killing every one of them until the desert ran red with blood.
Ra had a change of heart seeing the destruction and decided to spare the rest of mankind, but Sekhmet tasted blood and could not be stopped.
To trick her, Ra poured jars of red beer on the land and Sekhmet, thinking it was blood, drank it all up and fell asleep, finally satisfied. Thus, mankind was saved from destruction.
