To the Ancient Egyptians, Nefertum, the radiant deity of the blue lotus, emerged from the primordial waters as the fragrant bloom that first opened at the dawn of creation. Often depicted as a handsome youth crowned with a lotus flower (sometimes flanked by plumes or lions), Nefertum embodied both rebirth and divine fragrance, serving as...
Amidst the sprawling grandeur of Karnak Temple in Luxor, once the spiritual heart of ancient Thebes, stands a most curious and venerable monument: a colossal stone scarab carved from rose-hued granite. It is thought to date from the reign of Amenhotep III (r. 1391-1351 B.C.), during Egypt’s glittering 18th Dynasty, a period marked by architectural...
The Lake of Fire in Ancient Egyptian belief is a compelling and multifaceted concept, primarily depicted in funerary texts such as the Book of the Dead. This lake, known in Egyptian as the “Lake of Flames,” served as both a perilous obstacle and a source of purification for the deceased navigating the Duat, the Egyptian...
In Ancient Egyptian belief, Ammit (also spelled Ammut or Amamet) was the personification of punishment, a final threat to those who fail to live a just life. With a body part lion, part hippopotamus, and part crocodile; the three largest and most dangerous animals known to the Egyptians, her name translates to “Devourer“, she is...
In Egyptian myth, before Creation of the World took place, the universe existed as a boundless sea of dark, inert waters known as Nun. From this primordial chaos arose the first god, Atum, self-created and eternal, who emerged atop the sacred mound, which came to be a symbol of the first land to rise from...
