Lotus (ancient egypt)

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Lotus in hieroglyphics
Old empire
M9

Seschen
Sšn
lotus plant
Nymphaea lotus (1) .jpg
Egyptian white lotus (Nymphaea lotus)
Nymphaea caerulea

Lotos (also lotus, lotus flower, lotus flower ) had various functions as a symbol and food plant in ancient Egypt . However, the ancient Egyptian lotus is not identical to the botanical genus lotus . An exact plant assignment is still pending; So far, in addition to the tiger lotus ( Nymphaea lotus ), the sky-blue water lily ( Nymphaea caerulea ) has also been assumed.

In the Hebrew language , the similar term šušan ( Susanne ) in translation also stands for the lily plants .

Meaning and use

Along with the scarab, the lotus was the most important symbol for regeneration and resurrection. This meaning of the lotus goes back to the ability of the plant to close its flowers at sunset, to dive under water and to rise again from the water at sunrise. The lotus, like the scarab, also symbolizes the sun. The blue lotus blossom was considered sacred in ancient Egypt. As the papyrus was the plant of Lower Egypt , the lotus was one of the symbols for Upper Egypt .

The lotus flower was used as a floral ornament for both the living and the dead. In the case of the mummy Ramses II , for example, a flower garland made of tiger lotus was found . In the temples there were so-called "holy bouquets" that were consecrated there.

mythology

Since the New Kingdom , a child sitting on a lotus blossom has symbolized the divine birth of the sun god . According to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, at the beginning of creation the young sun god was born in a lotus blossom that emerged from the primordial ocean Nun . The Egyptians therefore saw the sunrise as a constant repetition of creation and resurrection. The lotus flower is the attribute of the god Nefertem , who often wears it on his head.

Since the Greco-Roman times , various child gods have therefore been depicted sitting on a lotus flower. From Hor-pa-chered , only one iconographic evidence from the Ptolemaic period has survived in this regard .

Cult of the dead

Proverbs 76 to 88 of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead are supposed to enable the deceased to assume different forms, usually animals or gods, in order to cope with the afterlife. According to Proverbs 81 A (short version) and 81 B (longer version), however, the deceased can assume the shape of a lotus flower:

“I am that pure lotus blossom that emerged from the shine of light that is on Re's nose. I spend my time and measure it to the Horus. I am the pure one (blossom) that emerged from the field. "

- Egyptian Book of the Dead, Proverb 81 A

“O you lotus blossom of this Nefertem picture! I am a human being and yet I know these sayings, I know the saying of those who are with these gods, the lords of the realm of the dead. "

- Egyptian Book of the Dead, Proverb 81 B, 1st section

The saying about the transformation into a lotus blossom is therefore the hope of rebirth.

art

The lotus blossom is a motif that is often used in ancient Egyptian art , both in architecture, painting and in goldsmithing. Architecturally, the so-called "lotus bundle column with closed capital" is used. The model for this was lotus flowers tied together as a bundle. Such columns are obtained from private graves of the Old , Middle, and New Kingdom. The lotus bundle pillars are similar to the papyrus bundle pillars , but differ in the lower shaft, which is straight in the lotus bundle pillars. In graves of the 18th dynasty ( New Kingdom ), the blue lotus blossom is very often depicted in the wall decorations, the scent of which the deceased should enjoy. Other murals show people holding bundles of lotus blossoms in their hands or wearing the blossoms as headdresses.

The grave treasure of Tutankhamun from KV62 includes some objects that contain the lotus flower. For example the so-called “ head of Nefertem ”, a representation of the young king, the lotus cup made of alabaster , which depicts a white lotus blossom and a piece of jewelry with the throne name Tutankhamun.

supporting documents

Extra-Egyptian sources

In Homer's Odyssey , a people is mentioned, the so-called lotophages , who ate a lotus plant that is said to have had a drug-like effect: whoever tasted the honey sweetness of the lotus fruits no longer thought of customers or homecoming, but they always wanted to be in the lottery society stay and pick the lotus and renounce their home (Homer, Odyssey IX, 94ff.). Since Homer previously described that Odysseus' ships at Cape Malea were caught by the north wind and driven across the sea by storms for nine days, the vast majority of researchers have been trying to locate the land of the lotophages in today's Libya or Djerba since ancient times .

Whether lotus was actually consumed as a drug remains questionable, at least in the reports of the Odyssey, since the seamen stranded at the lotophages were starved after their ten-day wandering and perhaps saw the lotus plants as welcome food. Even Herodotus reported in particular on the sweet flavor of the lotus root. A detailed description of the plant can be found in Polybios ' Historien, Book XII.2.

Inner Egyptian sources

Ancient Egyptian lotus harvests have been iconographically documented since the Old Kingdom . In a papyrus fragment of the Middle Kingdom from Illahun , the consumption of the lotus plant described by Herodotus is confirmed: cause me to be given sweetness, cause me to be given love, by the openers of the house, by the lotus eaters .

See also

literature

  • Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 , p. 831.
  • Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates): The genesis of an Egyptian god child (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta 151) . Peeters, Leuven 2006, ISBN 90-429-1761-X .
  • Alexandra von Lieven : Fictional and historical Egypt (The Odysee's image of Egypt from an Egyptological perspective) In: Andreas Luther: History and fiction in the Homeric Odyssey (interdisciplinary conference, October 2003 at the Free University in Berlin) . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54192-5 , pp. 61-76.
  • Manfred Lurker : Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Egyptians. Scherz, Bern / Munich / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-502-16430-4 , p. 127.
  • Ian Shaw, Paul Nicholson: Reclam's Lexicon of Ancient Egypt. Reclam, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-010444-0 , pp. 167-168.

Web links

Commons : Lotos (Ancient Egypt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erik Hornung : The Egyptian Book of the Dead. Unchanged photomechanical reprint of the 1979 edition, Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-7608-1037-3 , p. 465.
  2. ↑ Alessia Amenta, Maria Sole Croce, Alessandro Bongioanni: Egyptian Museum Cairo. National Geographic Art Guide, with foreword by Zahi Hawass , 2nd edition, National Geographic Germany, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-934385-81-8 , p. 291.
  3. ↑ Manfred Lurker: Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Egyptians. P. 127.
  4. ↑ Ian Shaw, Paul Nicholson: Reclam's Lexicon of Ancient Egypt. P. 167.
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto: Small Lexicon of Egyptology. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 , p. 175.
  6. ↑ a b Sandra Sandri: Har-Pa-Chered (Harpokrates) . P. 120.
  7. ↑ A. Amenta, M. Sole Croce, A. Bongioanni: Egyptian Museum Cairo. P. 291.
  8. ↑ Erik Hornung: The Egyptian Book of the Dead. P. 167.
  9. ↑ Erik Hornung: The Egyptian Book of the Dead. P. 168.
  10. ↑ Manfred Lurker: Lexicon of the gods and symbols of the ancient Egyptians. P. 127.
  11. ↑ Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Small Lexicon of Egyptology. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 , p. 175
  12. ↑ Dieter Arnold : The temples of Egypt. Apartments for gods, monuments, places of worship. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-86047-215-1 , p. 64.
  13. ↑ For the first time: Eratosthenes after Pliny : Naturalis Historia V, 7.2.