| In Egyptian
mythology, Nefertem (also Nefertum,
Nefer-Tem, Nefer-Temu) was originally just
the young Atum (his
name means beautiful Atum,
i.e. youthful Atum),
at the creation of the world, who had arisen
from the primal waters, in the Ennead
cosmogeny. Since Atum
was a solar deity, Nefertum represented
sunrise, and since Atum
had arisen from the primal waters in a lotus
bud, Nefertum was associated with the (blue)
lotus. Later, as time wore on, Atum
became assimilated into Ra
(as Atum-Ra), and so it came to be that
people regarded Nefertum as a separate deity.
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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
lotus, to the nostrils of Ra,
and come forth upon the horizon each day.
As the power of Memphis grew, their chief god,
Ptah, was said to be
the original creator, and thus of all the other
gods, including any lesser creators, who create
the remaining gods having first being created
by Ptah. Consequently,
the creator aspect of Atum-Ra, namely Nefertum,
came to be merely the son of Ptah,
rather than the creator proper.
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As son of Ptah,
it was said that either Sekhmet,
or Bast (whichever
was considered wife of Ptah),
was his mother. As a god now only associated
with the lotus rather than creation, he
became a god of perfume and luck.
In art, Nefertum is usually depicted
as a beautiful young man having lotus
flowers around his head, although, as
the son of Bast,
he also sometimes has the head of a lion
or is a lion or cat reclining. Nefertem
was associated both with the scent of
the lotus flower and its narcotic effect,
which in ancient Egypt was used for medical
anesthetics. The ancient Egyptians often
carried small statuettes of him as good-luck
charms.
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