The sun god sent a goddess to destroy mankind. Seven thousand jars of beer saved us. #ancientegypt

When the sun god Ra grew old and men plotted against him, he sent his Eye to strike them. As Hathor she struck them down, then she became Sekhmet, the Powerful One, and would not stop. So Ra had seven thousand jars of beer dyed red with ochre and poured over the fields before dawn. She drank it, and mankind was saved.

A myth, from the Book of the Heavenly Cow, written in the tombs of Tutankhamun, Seti I and Ramesses II. The text says that in its own day Egyptians still brewed beer for Hathor at her feast.
The reign of Ra, part 1 of 3 · before this: the Eight of Hermopolis · next: Ra leaves the earth
Sources: the Book of the Heavenly Cow (Hornung's critical text, 1982; Budge, Legends of the Gods, 1912).

#egyptiantales #egyptianmythology #ancientegypt #sekhmet #hathor