Both in life and death, the Ancient Egyptians adorned their world with plants whose meanings reached far beyond the garden. Flowers and fruits were not merely decorative, they were potent symbols, bearing associations of love, fertility, regeneration, and eternal life. In the imagery of tombs, such flora carried a language of their own, one that...
To the Ancient Egyptian imagination, the blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) was far more than a waterborne bloom. Each evening, its petals folded and sank beneath the surface, only to rise and open anew with the sunrise. This daily rhythm made the flower an emblem of cosmic rebirth, mirroring the sun-god’s own journey through the night...
This painted limestone stele depicts sisters, Keti and Senet, breathing in the scent of a lotus blossom, while stood either side of an offering table full of food produce and other tribute presented to the pair. Dating from between approximately 2061–1900 B.C., Late 11th Dynasty to Early 12th Dynasty, this Middle Kingdom stelae was made...
This perfume bottle, with a depiction of an Amarna princess stood upon a lotus blossom, is in the shape of a hes-vase. It is made from Egyptian alabaster, with an inlay of coloured glass, carnelian, obsidian and gold. A hes-vase is named after the “hes” hieroglyph. The hes-vase was used as a libation vessel, meaning,...
These two unique two gold rings are decorated with lotus flowers. The blossoms are made from lapis lazuli and carnelian set into gold cloisons. One ring of this pair has a slender hoop attached to a lentoid bezel on which opposing lotus blossoms with petals of alternating dark and light blue glass are cut and...
A lotus flower shaped pendant once belonged to the Vizier Imhotep, a high official in the royal court of King Thutmose I. Excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli and Francesco Ballerini from his tomb (QV46), Valley of the Queens, Thebes. The lotus was shown throughout Egypt in tombs and temples to symbolize the union of Upper and...
This elegant triple lamp with lotus of King Tutankhamun is delicately carved, incised, and polished from one block of alabaster. The central cup is shaped like a lotus chalice, rising on a long stem, and is flanked by two smaller bud-like cups on sinuous stems, each with a leaf spreading out horizontally, as if they...
This head was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, at the very threshold of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Fashioned from wood and standing at a modest 30 centimetres in height, it bears a fragile stucco coating, once painted a vivid red but now sadly scarred by age and circumstance. There is...
This chalice in the form of a lotus is decorated with a whorl of circles and sepals in low relief. The handle is a lotus flower and bud supporting the symbol of eternal life. The cup bears the names and titles of King Tutankhamun. On each side of the cup there are two birds. The...
On this finely carved slab, five elegant women attend to a fragrant art: the pressing of lotus blossoms. Three clasp the long-stemmed flowers in hand, while two twist bulging sacks filled with petals, coaxing forth the nectar which drips into the vessel below. At first glance it is an image of industry, yet beneath lies...
