The lotus flower in ancient Egypt
In Egypt there were two species of water lilies, called by the Greeks and Latins "loti": the white Lotus and the blue Lotus.
The former has leaves with a serrated edge, rounded buds and wide, open petals; the second instead has leaves with a linear edge, pointed buds and narrow petals.
The blue lotus was the holiest and most represented in Egyptian art. Because the lotus closes and plunges below the surface of the water in the evening, then rises and unfolds again in the morning, it easily became a symbol of the sun and creation, as well as rebirth.
According to a myth from the city of Hermopolis, it was a great lotus that rose from the primordial waters (Nun) and from which, for the first time, the sun rose.
The idea of the young sun god appearing as a child on a lotus flower is well described in chapter XV of the Book of the Dead and was frequently represented in Egyptian art. The young god was called Nefertum and often bore the title of ''lord of perfumes'', an evident allusion to the fragrance of the lotus itself.
As a symbol of rebirth, the flower also came to be closely associated with the funerary cult.
The four sons of Horus, who took care of the deceased, are often depicted on a flower that emerges from a body of water in front of the throne of the god Osiris, lord of the dead par excellence. The Book of the Dead contains formulas that allowed the deceased to transform into a lotus flower, in order to resurrect after death.
A small bust of Tutankhamun (above) expresses this concept and shows the young pharaoh's head rising above a lotus flower to new life. The lotus appears in scenes in which it is offered to the gods and, during the New Kingdom, it is painted in tombs in banquet scenes, above jars of wine (the essence of the lotus flower was perhaps used in the preparation of wine for sure slight narcotic properties).
During the same period, the lotus became a symbol of Upper Egypt.
