Nefertum was the Egyptian god of the lotus, perfume, beauty and the dawn — the beautiful young god who emerged from the primordial lotus blossom at the first dawn of creation, the divine fragrance of the sacred blue lotus, and the son of Ptah and Sekhmet in the great triad of Memphis. He is the sweet-scented beauty of the first sunrise, the lotus from which the sun was born.
The God of the Lotus
Nefertum (Egyptian Nefertum, “beautiful one who closes” or “perfect one”) was the god of the lotus blossom, perfume, fragrance and beauty. He was intimately associated with the sacred blue lotus (the blue water-lily), a flower of immense significance in Egyptian religion: the blue lotus opens at dawn and closes at dusk, and its sweet fragrance and beautiful blossom made it a symbol of the sun, of rebirth, and of beauty and pleasure. Nefertum was depicted as a handsome young man crowned with a great lotus blossom (often with two tall plumes), the embodiment of the flower's beauty and fragrance.
The Lotus of Creation
Nefertum's deepest significance lay in the myth of creation and the first dawn. In one of the great Egyptian creation myths, the primordial waters of chaos brought forth a lotus blossom, and from this first lotus, opening at the dawn of time, emerged the sun — the first sunrise, the beginning of light and life. Nefertum was bound up with this primal lotus and the sun that rose from it: he was “the lotus at the nose of Ra,” the sweet fragrance that the sun-god breathed, and the beauty of the first dawn. As the god of the lotus from which the sun was born, he embodied the freshness, beauty and fragrance of the very first morning of creation, the sweet-scented dawn of the world.
The Son of Memphis
Nefertum was the son of the creator-god Ptah and the lioness-goddess Sekhmet, completing the great triad of Memphis (Ptah, Sekhmet and Nefertum). This gave the beautiful, fragrant lotus-god a notable parentage: born of the divine craftsman and the fierce lioness, he united creation and beauty. He also had a fiercer aspect at times, linked through his mother Sekhmet to the lion and to protective power. But he was beloved above all as the god of perfume and beauty — the divine fragrance, the sweet scent of the sacred lotus, the god to whom the lovely smells of perfumes and flowers belonged. The Egyptians, who loved perfumes and scented oils, honoured Nefertum as the source of these pleasures.
The Fragrance of the First Dawn
Nefertum endures as one of the most beautiful and gentle of the Egyptian gods — the god of the lotus, perfume and beauty, the divine fragrance of the sacred blue lotus, the beautiful youth who emerged from the first blossom at the dawn of creation, the son of the Memphite triad. He embodies the Egyptian love of beauty, fragrance and the lotus, and the lovely myth of the sun born from a flower at the first dawn; and he remains the sweet-scented god of the lotus and the morning — the beauty and fragrance of the very first sunrise of the world, renewed in every dawn and every blossom.
The beautiful youth who rose from the first lotus at the dawn of creation, the sweet fragrance the sun-god breathes — the god of the lotus, perfume and the beauty of the morning.