Through the Sands of Time

Sekhmet

During the time frame of the Old Kingdom, the Goddess Sekhmet and the other two members of the Memphite Triad (her consort Ptah and her son Nefertem) were heavily worshipped and revered. Her most sacred of temples was in Mennefer (Hikuptah, Memphis). Some confuse her with being associated with Bast. Although they both have partial cat forms, this is inaccurate. Varying regional differences in the origins of Bast further complicated matters. They are at best cousins in duality: Sekhmet was a goddess of Upper Egypt, and Bast a goddess of Lower Egypt. The New Kingdom Goddess of Mut has also been confused with Sekhmet. Some scholars attempted to make them the same Goddess under different names. More recent studies and analysis shows this to be inaccurate. Scholars often consider Sekhmet and Mut as sisters. Though again, this appears to vary by region.

Sekhmet, whose name means “she who is powerful,” is depicted as a lion-headed Goddess with the Sun as a crown on her head. Associated with war and retribution, she was said to use arrows to pierce her enemies with fire. Her breath was the hot desert wind, and her body took on the glare of the midday sun. She represented the destructive force of the sun and by extension the God Ra.

Some scholars speculate that Sekhmet's origins predate the other Egyptian gods. That she was actually worshipped before the others were, and was brought into the Kemetic (Egyptian) faith somewhere along the way. Whether this is true or not, the Kemetics know her origin as coming from the eye of Ra (the midday sun and she is thus known as the “Eye of Ra”). She was sent to earth to wreak revenge and destruction to man on Ra's behalf. She slaughtered mankind and drank their blood. She was only stopped after being tricked and appeased. She is obviously associated with destruction. However, she is not merely a Goddess of Destruction. It is important to note however, that she is not associated with Destruction in the same way the God Set (slayer of his brother Osiris) is. Her destructive nature is always accomplished as an “appropriate action” and in this way her destructive nature is associated with righteous retribution. She does that, which is needed, by removing threats and punishing those who do wrong against Ma'at. Ma'at was her right hand, hence she wielded Ma'at.

(Ma'at meant both truth, and the Goddess of truth. At death a person's soul wekgoeighed on the scales against a feather (which represented Ma'at). If the soul was heavier than truth they were destroyed and not able to go onto the world of the dead, in fact this is where the millennium item the Millennium Scale most likely originates from.)

She is known as being the mother of the God Nefertem, who was a healing god, and by extension she became known as a goddess of healing and surgery. Her temples were filled with priests who learned the fine art of Sekhem (a divine sort of energy healing which later forms such as oriental Seichim were believed to have derived from), and surgery. Remaining papyri show detailed medical observations on everything from gynecological concerns, care for disease of the eye, and everything in between. Many Egyptian medicines have been proved by modern day science to work, and are used in related treatments to their ancient uses. Although it may seem odd for us to hear of using an animal's dung to heal, we understand today that a specific animal's dung prescribed by the Egyptian physicians contained antibiotic properties.

Sekhmet was more than either a Goddess of Destruction, or of Healing, but she was also known as a great protector. She served as bodyguard to Ra as he traversed the twelve zones of the underworld. She has over 2,000 known and inscribed praise names to her credit used by the Ancient Egyptians among them are: the force against which no other force can stand, one who drives back evil, defender against fiends, one before whom fiends tremble, the Mistress of Dread, Who Gives Life Eternally, Great One of Magic, Mother of the Netjeru (Gods), One who was before the Netjeru were (this ties into the academic viewpoint I mentioned earlier that she may have been a deity outside of the Kemetic faith brought in; Evidence shows that she at least pre-dates her consort Ptah by several hundred years), Lady of the place of the beginning of time, at whose wish the arts were born, Beautiful Eye which Gives Life to the Two Lands (Upper & Lower Egypt), Flaming One, Protectoress of the Netjeru, Pure One, Destroyer of Rebellions, Eye of Ra, Eye of Horus, Pre-Eminent One in the boat of millions of years, roamer of deserts, wanderer in the waters, awakener, Lady of enchantments, opener of ways, Lady of transformations, giver of ecstasies, Lady of jubilation, powerful of heart, Inspirer of men, Victorious One in battles, ruler of serpents and of dragons, ruler of lions, mother of the dead, unwavering loyal One, the Source, Guide and Protectoress from the perils of the underworld, Mistress and Lady of the tomb, Lady of the waters of life.

As you can see, I'm not even getting started here. But I think the names convey well her all-encompassing nature and reverence the Ancient Egyptians held for her. She was intimately linked with the well being of the land, and with the ruler, the Pharaoh. It is said that she was mother of Pharaoh, and many of the great high priests (such as the famous Amenhotep) worshipped her with reverence. Understanding this, and overlaying the ancient past of the characters from Yugioh into this, brings forth a new, richer understanding of all that is transpiring. She would stand behind the past lives of the characters we have grown to love, and would influence the entire story both then, and now.