Sakhmet

The lion goddess Sakhmet represented the eye of the sun god Re, which alerted him to all potential enemies. Her aggressive protection of him could be so fierce that in one myth she threatened all human existence through her raging attacks. Only beer—dyed red to resemble human blood—could placate Sakhmet; the beer returned her to a quieter, housecat-like disposition. Her story incorporating bloodlike red recalled for the Egyptians the annual Nile flood, also colored red, because of the silt it carried, and thus tied Sakhmet to a powerful force of nature.