The Destruction of Mankind
Also known as: Book of the Heavenly Cow, Myth of the Heavenly Cow, Destruction of Humanity, The Heavenly Cow
A cultic narrative explaining how Ra sent his Eye as Sekhmet to punish rebellious humankind, then pacified her with beer dyed red, retreating to the sky upon the Heavenly Cow and reshaping cosmic order.
Description
Often embedded as the “Book of the Heavenly Cow,” this New Kingdom composition recounts a crisis when humans plot against Ra. The sun god convenes a council, dispatching his Eye—manifest as Hathor-Sekhmet—to slaughter the rebels. As destruction spreads, divine counsel shifts to mercy: beer tinted to resemble blood intoxicates and pacifies the raging goddess. The aftermath reorders the cosmos: Ra distances himself from humanity, ascends upon the body of the sky-cow (Nut), Shu props up the heavens, and Thoth institutes calendrical and cultic provisions. The tale functions as theodicy and aetiology—explaining festivals of drunkenness, royal distance, and the structural separation between gods and humans—while integrating with funerary theology and royal afterlife books.
Historiography
The text survives as wall-inscriptions and vignettes in several New Kingdom royal tombs, indicating a canonical yet variably redacted composition tied to funerary theology. Orthography and episode order differ slightly across copies, suggesting transmission through priestly schools and royal workshops. Modern editions rely on collations of tomb versions, with translations emphasizing its role alongside afterlife books like the Amduat and Book of Gates. Reception links the myth to temple festivals and later ritual handbooks celebrating the pacification of Sekhmet.
Date Notes
Attested as a fixed composition in royal tombs of the New Kingdom; likely earlier oral or temple narrative with later theological redaction.
Major Characters
- Ra
- Sekhmet
- Hathor
- Thoth
- Nun
Myths
- Ra’s Wrath and the Sending of Sekhmet
- The Slaughter of Humanity
- The Beer of Dendera and the Pacification of Sekhmet
- The Restoration of Balance
Facts
- The composition is known primarily from New Kingdom royal tombs as part of the so-called Book of the Heavenly Cow.
- It narrates a failed human rebellion against Ra and the divine punitive response.
- Hathor manifests as Sekhmet, the Eye of Ra, to execute judgment on humankind.
- Beer dyed red to resemble blood is poured over fields to intoxicate and pacify Sekhmet.
- Following the crisis, Ra withdraws from earth, increasing distance between gods and humans.
- Nut is depicted as a celestial cow bearing Ra; Shu props the sky—an aetiology for cosmic structure.
- Thoth issues decrees that have calendrical and ritual implications, including festival observances.
- The myth underlies later Egyptian “Feast of Drunkenness” celebrations of Sekhmet’s pacification.
- Iconography and text are integrated with the corpus of royal afterlife books and solar theology.
- Variant copies show minor differences in wording and sequence, indicating scribal transmission.