In the beginning, when the world was young and the gods walked the earth, Ra ruled as the supreme King of both gods and men. He was the Light-Bringer, the source of all life who had emerged from the primordial waters of Nun onto the sacred Benben stone at Heliopolis. For ages, his reign was a golden era of order and prosperity. However, as the eons passed, the physical form of the great god began to show signs of age. His bones, once solid and eternal, took on the sheen of silver; his flesh became gold, and his hair the deep blue of lapis lazuli. Seeing this transition, the mortals of the earth—who had been created from the very tears of Ra's eyes—began to lose their fear and respect for the divine sovereign. They gathered in secret in the dark corners of the desert and within the limestone shadows of the Great Mountains, whispering of rebellion and plotting to overthrow the aging sun god.
Ra, whose all-seeing gaze could penetrate the deepest thoughts of men, was not blind to this treachery. He felt the sting of their ingratitude and the coldness of their hearts. Deeply troubled, he called for a secret council of the most ancient deities, those who had been with him since the first dawn. He summoned Shu, the god of air; Tefnut, the goddess of moisture; Geb, the earth; Nut, the sky; and most importantly, Nun, the personification of the primeval waters from which all things sprang. These gods were brought into the great palace at Heliopolis, moving in silence so that humanity would not suspect their gathering. Ra spoke to Nun, seeking counsel on how to deal with the children of his own essence who were now blaspheming against his name.
Nun, the eldest of the gods, advised Ra that the strength of the sun was still supreme and that he should send forth his Eye—the powerful, autonomous extension of his divine will—to strike down those who conspired against him. The Eye of Ra was not merely an organ of sight but a fierce, feminine entity of scorching heat and celestial fire, often manifested as a lioness. Ra agreed to this plan. With a heavy heart but a firm hand, he plucked forth his Eye and cast it down toward the earth. As the Eye descended, it transformed into the goddess Hathor, though in this aspect of unbridled vengeance, she was also known as the terrifying Sekhmet. She was the 'Powerful One,' a creature of such ferocity that her breath was the desert wind and her gaze was the burning sun.
Hathor-Sekhmet descended upon the rebels in the desert with a fury that the world had never seen. She did not merely punish the ringleaders; she fell upon the masses with a bloodlust that grew with every strike. The sands of the Egyptian desert, once pale and golden, were stained a deep, visceral crimson. The goddess hunted through the night and into the following days, her power fueled by the very rebellion she was sent to extinguish. She moved from the southern borders of the kingdom up to the Delta, leaving a trail of destruction that threatened to end the human race entirely. Ra, watching from his celestial barque, began to feel a profound sense of regret. He had intended to punish the wicked, but he did not wish for the complete extinction of his creation. He saw the suffering and the terror of the survivors, and he realized that the Eye, once unleashed, could not be easily recalled or sated.
To save the remaining humans, Ra knew he had to act with cunning rather than force, for no god could stand directly in the path of the Eye's rage once it had tasted blood. He summoned swift messengers and commanded them to fly to the island of Elephantine and the Red Mountain near Heliopolis. He ordered them to bring back vast quantities of red ochre, a pigment found in the earth. He then commanded the royal brewers of Heliopolis to prepare seven thousand jars of barley beer. Working through the night, the brewers mixed the beer with the red ochre until the liquid was indistinguishable from the color of human blood. The jars were filled to the brim, and Ra surveyed the work, satisfied that the deception was complete.