The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet (Sakhmet, Sekhet) was a member of the Memphite Triad, thought to be the wife of Ptah and mother of Nefertem (though the motherhood of Nefertem was in dispute - Bast and Wadjet were touted as his mother in their respective cities). Associated with war and retribution, she was said to use arrows to pierce her enemies with fire, her breath being the hot desert wind as her body took on the glare of the midday sun. She represented the destructive force of the sun. According to the legends, she came into being when Hathor was sent to earth by Ra to take vengeance on man. She was the one who slaughtered mankind and drank their blood, only being stopped by trickery (this story can be found under Hathor's story). She was, thus, the destructive side of the sun, and a solar goddess and given the title Eye of Ra. Being mother of Nefertem, who himself was a healing god, gives her a more protective side that manifested itself in her aspect of goddess of healing and surgery. Part of her destruction side was also disease and plague, as the 'Lady of Pestilence'... but she could also cure said ailments. The priests of Sekhmet were specialists in the field of medicine, arts linked to ritual and magic. They were also trained surgeons of remarkable caliber. Pharaoh Amenhotep III had many statues of Sekhmet, and it has been theorized that this was because he dental and health problems that he hoped the goddess may cure.