Faience inlay of a lotus flower


Accession Number
EC574
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Plants case
Object Types
Jewellery, Amulet | Furniture, Furniture decoration, Inlay
Classification
Petrie type 466
Period
New Kingdom
Dynasty
Eighteenth Dynasty
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten to Tutankhamun
Material
Faience
Provenance
Egypt, Amarna, North Suburb, T.36.10
Number of Elements
1
Culture
Egyptian
Measurements
Height: 17mm | Width: 17mm | Depth: 3mm

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Description

A green faience inlay in the form of a lotus flower from Amarna. 'TA26,7/761' is written on the reverse. The lotus or water lily rises and opens up each day as the sun comes up. It was thus associated with rebirth. Some have suggested that its narcotic properties were also used by the Egyptians. Spell 81 in the 'Book of the Dead' is for transforming oneself into a lotus: 'Spell for assuming the form of a lotus. To be said by N. I am this pure lotus that has ascended by the Sunlight and is at Re's nose. I spend my (time) shedding (i.e. the sunlight) on Horus. I am the pure lotus that ascended from the field.' (Translation from Allen 1974). A lotus flower inlay is listed on the Amarna database website as from the 1926 excavations of T36.10. EC574 is the right size to be this inlay. See also EC573.

Bibliography

Petrie, W. M. Flinders 1894. Tell el Amarna. London: Methuen & Co. [pl. XIX. 466].