The Making of Lotus Perfume

Limestone slab with relief depicting women pressing lotus flowers, for the making of perfume or narcotics. The women at center twist a sack in which the lotus flowers are collected, the juice of which collects in the container below.

In Ancient Egypt, the pressing of lotus flowers was not only an artistic activity but also had ritual significance. These flowers were important in various religious contexts, and their oil was often used in perfumes, ointments, and religious rituals.

The slab pictures five women. Three hold a lotus flower and the two others twist sacks containing the flower, whose juice is gathered in a jar. Since the lotus flower opens in the morning and closes at night, it was a symbol of regeneration and the cosmic cycle of the sun. It was used to make perfumes and drugs with narcotizing powers, and was the most commonly grown and frequently pictured flower in ancient Egypt.

The Ancient Egyptians loved beautiful fragrances. They associated them with the gods and recognized their positive effect on health and well being. Perfumes were generally applied as oil-based salves, and there are numerous recipes and depictions of the preparation of perfume in temples all over Egypt.

The most highly prized perfumes of the ancient world came from Egypt. The most popular were Susinum (a perfume based on lily, myrrh, cinnamon), Cyprinum (based upon henna, cardamom, cinnamon, myrrh and southernwood) and Mendesian (myrrh and cassia with assorted gums and resins).

The god of perfume, Nefertem or Nefertum, was also a god of healing who was said to have eased the suffering of the aging sun god Re with a bouquet of sacred lotus. He was, in fact, first and foremost, the young god of the lotus bud that emerged from the primordial waters, according to the Egyptian myth, and from which the sun was born.

Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC. Limestone, dimensions: 68 cm x 31.5 cm x 6 cm. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Cat. 1673