When we think of the origins of vampires the first thing that comes to mind is Transylvania, Romania, or somewhere European. But what if I told you that’s not true, that the origins of vampires aren’t European at all. What if I told you they were Egyptian?

A vampire, by definition, is an immortal creature that drinks blood. I’m sure being immortal is a hard criteria to meet, but not for a god. Egypt worshiped many gods, Ra, Osirus, Annubis, the list goes on. But one goddess sticks out, Sekhmet.

Sekhmet is the daughter of Ra. Goddess of war and medicine, she is the vengeful manifestation of Ra’s power (also known as the Eye of Ra). Her myth is a strange one; It’s about the end of  Ra’s rule on earth. 

Essentially some egyptians conspired against Ra and as a justice he sent Sekhmet to lay them to rest, but caught in her blood lust she goes on a blood filled massacre. To stop her the gods conspire to drain a lake and fill it with red dyed beer, this works. Sekhmet drinks the beer believing it to be blood and she gets so drunk that she peacefully goes back to the gods.

By our definition of a vampire, Sekhmet is a vampire. She meets all our criteria; being immortal, drinking blood, and having physical power and strength. 

“But wasn’t that Transylvanian guy Vlad the Impaler the original vampire?” I hear you saying. To that I say he was Wallachian and he was a cruel ruler, not a vampire. Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, admitted to not knowing much about him and said that he wasn’t the inspiration for Count Dracula. William Wilikison, who was Stoker’s main source of info when it came to writing Dracula, only ever described Vlad the Impaler as a wicked and cruel person never as a vampire. 

Stoker was actually inspired by nobody in particular when writing the character of Count Dracula, however he did use bits and pieces of Wallachian history when writing. Ultimately that history only contributed to setting and not really the characters. However some people have pointed out the similarities between Dracula and Vlad the Impaler but it just happens to be a coincidence. 

There are some authors who’ve actually taken inspiration from Egypt when writing vampire novels. One in particular being Anne Rice, the author of The Vampire Chronicles. In her books vampires originate from Egypt having been made by Queen Akasha. Akasha was a woman considered to be the “mother of vampires” having been the first vampire in the series.

She has all the powers of Sekhmet; immortality, strength, and even pyrokinesis which Sekhmet was rumored to have as well as they both drink blood. Many people have come to the conclusion that Akasha was inspired by Sekhmet being that they have the same place of origin.

The origins of vampires is something that has been possibly bastardized by Europeans, as many other things have been. Many factors play into how stories and myths spread across continents and culture but many things have one point of origin. A lot of things in culture and society can be traced back to Africa so it’s not far off to believe that vampires originated there as well.

Vampire expert

Amoroso

I am a student and writer from Georgia who has an interest in gothic literature and film, ancient history, and anything vampire related.