Stele dedicated to Osiris and the gods of Abydos by the standard-bearer of King Akhepura-men-sou-iam

The lotus appears on this funerary stele in its different stages: stalk, bud, and flower. On the upper part, the deceased, seated with his wife, breathes in the flower’s sweet scent, the promise of vitality regained in the afterlife. Beside them, and in the lower part, their daughters hold lotus buds to their nostrils. The lotus flower also appears as an ornament on women’s wigs and on vases placed under the offering table. These ones are really water lilies: the blue one (Nymphaea caerulea) blooms at dawn, while the white one (Nymphaea lotus) flowers at night. It was not until the Persians arrived towards the end of the 6th century BC that the true lotus (Nelumbo lotus) was introduced to Egypt.