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Sekhmet   Hathor    

I smell blood! I will feast on the enemies of Ra until my belly is full!

–Sekhmet

Sekhmet is the Egyptian goddess of war, destruction, vengeance, healing and plague. She is the daughter of Ra and the original Eye of Ra, before the role was later assumed by Bast. Her alternate form is Hathor, the goddess of beauty and joy.

History[]

Ra, the first pharaoh and king of the gods, was initially a wise and just ruler. Over the centuries, however, he became old and senile. As such, humanity began to stop worshipping Ra, ultimately forgetting to uphold Ma'at. Ra becomes angered upon seeing this and sought a way to gain retribution. He plucked out his eye, which formed into a terrifying lion-headed goddess. Ra named this new goddess "Sekhmet", and commanded her to go and wreak havoc upon humanity for their failure to uphold Ma'at. She did as instructed and began a horrible slaughter, killing almost everything in her sight. When Ra looked down upon the Earth, he was horrified upon seeing the carnage Sekhmet had caused and ordered her to stop and cease her rampage. However, Sekhmet, who had become overcome with bloodlust, refused and continued her rampage. Desperate to stop Sekhmet, Ra assembled the other gods and together they devised a trick: they took several jars of wine and mixed it with red pomegranate juice (which stained the wine blood red), whereupon they poured the mixture onto Sekhmet's path. Sekhmet, believing the mixture to be blood, gorged herself on it and became drunk, passing out soon after. Afterwards, Ra then turned Sekhmet into Hathor, goddess of love, joy, and beauty. The position of "Eye of Ra" was then given to Bast.

Mythology[]

In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet, Sakhmet and Sekhet; and given the Greek name, Sachmis), was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare.

Her cult was so dominant in the culture that when the first pharaoh of the twelfth dynasty, Amenemhat I, moved the capital of Egypt to Itjtawy, the center for her cult was moved as well. Religion, the royal lineage, and the authority to govern were intrinsically interwoven in Ancient Egypt during its approximately three thousand years of existence.

Sekhmet also is a solar deity, often considered an aspect of the goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the solar disk and the Uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of the goddess Ma'at (Justice, or Order) in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, The Eye of Horus, and connecting her with Tefnut as well.

The Kane Chronicles[]

The Red Pyramid[]

Michel Desjardins summoned Sekhmet and released from her imprisonment to kill Sadie, Carter, Amos Kane, and Zia Rashid. They tricked her into transforming into Hathor by feeding her salsa, which Sekhmet thought was blood and drank until she was full. Hathor falls asleep right after transforming. She was then recalled into the heavens.

The Throne of Fire[]

Jaz is studying the Path of Sekhmet as a healer and during the fight in the Brooklyn Museum, she channels Sekhmet's power through her to defeat the seven bau known as the Seven Arrows of Sekhmet. According to Jaz, they are plague spirits created by the goddess and by channeling her power, Jaz is able to cast a spell to banish them back to the Duat, curing all of their victims. Sekhmet is later mentioned by Bes as having escaped from her prison briefly in 1918 and causing the Spanish Flu pandemic while free.

Appearance[]

Sekhmet is described as a 'golden woman' in glowing red armor. Her skin glowed like liquid gold, her chest plate and skirt looked as if they were made from molten lava, and her hair was like a lion mane.

In certain Egyptian hieroglyphs and carvings, she can be seen having pure Lion features. She commonly takes the form of a lioness with a sun floating above her head (to symbolize Ra) when on a rampage.

Personality[]

Sekhmet is fierce and unstoppable with a blood lust that blinds her to all else. In Egyptian mythology, she is also a goddess of strategy, somewhat akin to the Greek goddess Athena.

Abilities[]

As the original Eye of Ra, Sekhmet is incredibly powerful, to the point that even Horus himself stated it is impossible to stop her when she is overcome by her bloodlust. It is necessary to trick her into getting herself drunk, so she will calm down and turn into Hathor.

  • Battle Prowess: Sekhmet have enormous strength and destructive power. As the Eye of Ra, she was responsible for protecting the Sun God and destroy all his enemies. When Ra sent Sekhmet to punish humanity for their failure to uphold Ma'at, he became horrified upon witnessing the carnage and destruction she had caused, fearing she would eventually wipe out all humanity.
  • Pyrokinesis: As the daughter of Ra, Sekhmet possesses some control over fire, using this ability to cover her arrows with flames.
  • Electrokinesis: As the Goddess of War and Destruction, Sekhmet can produce tremendous amounts of lightning and electricity when battling her enemies.
  • Vitakinesis: As the Goddess of Healing, Sekhmet is able to restore the sick and injured to full health.
  • Biokinesis: As the Goddess of Plagues and Famine, Sekhmet is able to manipulate a person's anatomy, infecting them with sickness and plagues.
    • Nosokinesis (limited): As the Goddess of Plagues, Sekhmet is able to create and control plagues.
  • Archery: Sekhmet uses a bow to fire fiery arrows at her enemies.

Relationships[]

  • Ra: Sekhmet is fanatically loyal to Ra and desires nothing else but to destroy his enemies. But her blood lust makes her blind to anything else than destroying his enemies which she assumes to be everyone. In ancient myths, Sekhmet was the consort of the god Ptah and the mother of Nefertem, the god of lotuses. She is also considered to be associated with Bast and Tefnut. In some occasions, Ra is her father.
  • Hathor: Sekhmet's alternative form.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Sekhmet's name is derived from the Egyptian word sekhem, meaning "power" or "might". Her name is thus translated as "she who is mighty or powerful". 
  • She was also given such titles as the "One Before Whom Evil Trembles, the Mistress of Dread," and "the Lady of Slaughter".
  • Her Greco-Roman equivalent is Enyo/Bellona, Hephaestus/Vulcan and Apollo/Apollo
The Kane Chronicles
Core Series: The Red Pyramid | The Throne of Fire | The Serpent's Shadow
Crossovers: The Son of Sobek | The Staff of Serapis | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians
Main Characters: Carter Kane | Sadie Kane | Ra | Anubis | Apophis | Bast | Bes | Horus | Isis | Zia Rashid | Set | Walt Stone | Setne
Secondary Characters: Julius Kane | Ruby Kane | Amos Kane | Vladimir Menshikov | Leonid | Sarah Jacobi | Kwai
Minor Characters: Michel Desjardins | Iskandar | Jasmine Anderson | Sean Ryan | Julian | Alyssa | Cleo | Felix Philip | Shelby | Khufu | Muffin | Mr. Faust | Mrs. Faust | Percy Jackson | Annabeth Chase
Egyptian Gods: Ra | Geb | Nut | Shu | Osiris | Horus | Set | Isis | Nephthys | Anubis | Sobek | Bast | Thoth | Serapis | Ptah | Nekhbet | Wadjet | Babi | Tefnut | Tawaret | Khepri | Khnum | Neith | Khonsu | Sekhmet | Hathor | Serqet | Shezmu | Hapi
Demons and Magical Creatures: Ammit the Devourer | Bau | Bloodstained Blade | Criosphinx | Carriers | Face of Horror | Griffin | Uraeus | Serpopard | Switchblade Demons | Tjesu heru | Petsuchos
Other: House of Life | Magic | Magician | Kane Family
Related Content: Rick Riordan | List of Terms | The Kane Chronicles: Survival Guide | Brooklyn House Magician's Manual | Film Series | Mythomagic, Inc | Netflix
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