Nefertem ( also spelt Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world that had arisen from the primal waters. God Nefertem represented the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus flower, having emerged from the primal waters within an Egyptian blue water-lily, Nymphaea caerulea. Some of the titles of Nefertem were “He Who is Beautiful” and “Water-Lily of the Sun”, and a version of the Book of the Dead says:
Rise like Nefertem from the blue water lily to the nostrils of Ra (the creator and sun-god), and come forth upon the horizon each day.
Origin of God Nefertem
Nefertem was eventually seen as the son of the creator god Ptah, and Ancient Egyptian religion called the goddesses Sekhmet and Bast sometimes as his mother. Ancient Egyptians usually depicted Nefertem as a beautiful young man having blue water-lily flowers around his head in art. As the son of Bastet, he also sometimes has the head of a lion or is a lion or cat reclining. The ancient Egyptians often carried small statuettes of him as good-luck charms.
One of the most notable depictions of Nefertem is the Head of Nefertem, a wooden bust depicting a young king Tutankhamun as Nefertem with his head emerging from a lotus flower.
