Ancient Egypt
Elements of its Cultural History

  by Sjef Willockx

  
 


2. The white lotus

The information about the three types of lotus in the following sections is mostly drawn from two specialized sources:
 * Sylvia Schoske, Barbara Kreißl and Renate Germer: “Anch”: Blumen für das Leben (1992).
 * Hilary Wilson: Egyptian food and drink (1988).

 The flowers of the white lotus combine elegance with softness, spotless refinement with sensuous delicacy. They open up in the afternoon, blossom all through the night, and close again in the morning.

© Clair Ossian

The white lotus is not as frequently depicted on Egyptian reliefs as the blue one. It does however occur regularly in scenes of ponds, and of offerings.

© Clair Ossian

While the blue lotus was deeply associated with the symbolic and the religious, the white lotus was mostly regarded as “just” a beautiful garden flower.

© Clair Ossian
 On this one, you can just see a blue lotus in the background.

One would perhaps not suspect it, but the roots, leaves and seeds of most lotus species can be eaten: raw, baked or boiled. Herodotus describes this in detail.
 

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