Step 8 of 10

Flowers from Egypt

Related Images

  • Fig. 21 - Egyptian lotus flower - Metropolitan Museum of Art - [30.8.232a](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547901)
  • Fig. 22 - Man smelling a lotus flower on Egyptian stela - Rijksmuseum van Oudheden - [AP 12](https://hdl.handle.net/21.12126/22640) (photo by the author)
  • Fig. 19 / 23 - Painting from the tomb of Nebamun - British Museum - [EA 37977](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA37977)
  • Fig. 24 - Phoenician ivory plaque depicting a lion-headed figure and a monkey seated on an Egyptian lotus flower - Metropolitan Museum of Art - [61.197.12](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/325355)

The three lotus flowers sprouting up from the base form clear evidence of an Egyptian influence on the pendant and its maker. The lotus flower was a very popular Egyptian motif and was used very often and in many different places (Figs. 21-22). In ancient Egypt the lotus functioned as a symbol for rebirth and rejuvenation: lotuses close in the evening and open again in the morning, like the death and rebirth of the sun every day. The lotus can also be seen a few times in Nebamun’s hunting scene (Fig. 23).

The Egyptian lotus is also a motif often borrowed in art from other cultures, and can be seen for example on the Phoecian ivory plaque in Fig. 24.

A gold lotus flower very similar to the ones on the pendant was found in Mallia on Crete. This would point towards a Minoan origin of the pendant. We will see more objects from Mallia in the next step.