Nefertem
Ancient Egyptian deity / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nefertem (/ˈnɛfərˌtɛm/; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.[2] Nefertem represented both the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus flower, having arisen from the primal waters within an Egyptian blue water-lily, Nymphaea caerulea. Some of the titles of Nefertem were "He Who is Beautiful" and "Water-Lily of the Sun", and a version of the Book of the Dead says:
Rise like Nefertem from the blue water lily, to the nostrils of Ra (the creator and sungod), and come forth upon the horizon each day.
Nefertem | ||||||
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Name in hieroglyphs | ||||||
Major cult center | Memphis | |||||
Symbol | the water-lily, lion (occasionally) | |||||
Personal information | ||||||
Parents | Ptah and Sekhmet or Bast | |||||
Siblings | Maahes (either full or half depending on the mother) |
Nefertem was eventually seen as the son of the creator god Ptah, and the goddesses Sekhmet and Bast were sometimes called his mother. In art, Nefertem is usually depicted as a beautiful young man having blue water-lily flowers around his head. As the son of Bastet, he also sometimes has the head of a lion or is a lion or cat reclining. The ancient Egyptians [specify] often carried small statuettes of him as good-luck charms.
One of the most notable depictions of Nefertem is the Head of Nefertem, a wooden bust depicting a young king Tutankhamun as Nefertem with his head emerging from a lotus flower.