In art, Nefertum is usually depicted as having lotus flowers around his head, which is sometimes that of a lion. In some legends, he arose from a lotus flower.
His name means “Perfection.” Some of the titles of Nefertem were “He Who is Beautiful” and “Water Lily of the Sun.” A solar divinity, the god of fragrance and perfumes. In the Pyramid Texts, Nefertem was described as the “lotus blossom on the nose of Ra.” The ancient Egyptians carried small statuettes of him as good-luck charms. Nefertem was associated both with the scent of the lotus flower and its narcotic effect, which in ancient Egypt was used for medical anesthetics. Nefertem was shown as the divine blue lotus or as a beautiful young man with a lotus and feather headdress. Sometimes he was represented as a lion-headed man, or as a lion or cat reclining. Nefertem was thought to be the son of Sekhmet and Ptah. Sometimes he was considered to be the son of Bast or Wadjet, and the brother of Imhotep.
The Book of the Dead says: “Rise like Nefertem from the lotus to the nostrils of Ra, and come forth on the horizon every day.”
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.
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.
In art, Nefertum is usually depicted as a beautiful young man having lotusflowers 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.
The subject is reliefs from the Chapel to Nefertum in the Sokar Complex of the Temple of Sety I at Abydos.
Nefertum's relationship to Sokar is as the devoted son who helps in the resurrection of his father just as Horus/Anubis/Wepwawet does for Osiris/Andjety/Khentamenthes.
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