In Egyptian mythology, Sesmu was the god who oversaw and invented the pressing process to create cooking oil and wine. Also called Shezmu, Shesmou, Sezmu, and Schesmu. His name comes from the Egyptian word for “wine press” (smw.) Some of the titles of Shesmu were “Overthrower of the Wicked at the Block,” “Fierce of Face,” “Lord of the Blood,” “God of the Wine Press,” and “Slaughterer of Souls.”

An ancient Egyptian god of the underworld. Shesmu was a slaughtering demon, the god of precious oils for beauty and embalming, and a god of the wine press. He was thought to be a helper of the justified dead, offering them red wine to drink. Yet he was also seen to be a demon that would tear off the head of a wrongdoer, throwing the head into the wine press to squeeze out the blood as if it was grape juice. Throughout Egyptian history, from the early dynastic times through to the Roman period, Shesmu was seen as both a kind benefactor to the good and a cruel dispatcher of those who deserved it.

Not just a god of the underworld, Shesmu was also a god who provided the sacred oils for the embalming process. It was believed that he prevented the putrefaction and decay of the flesh after death with his unguents and special oils. The connection between wine and blood, and thus between helper god and punishing demon, came from the red wine the Egyptians drank. It was this red wine - or blood - that Shesmu offers the pharaoh in the Pyramid Texts and the deceased in their travels. He was also linked with the setting of the sun - because of its red color. Shesmu was depicted him as a full man, a lion-headed man, a cobra, or as a hawk.