Carved Statue Of God Nefertum Unearthed In Egypt’s Saqqara Necropolis

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - A carved statue of the god Nefertum was unearthed in Saqqara necropolis alongside a group of intact wooden coffins.

The Egyptian archaeologists excavating at Saqqara, which is led by Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, uncovered a bronze statue of the god lying beside the 26th Dynasty coffins.

Waziri said that the statue is one of several that the mission found during the excavation work inside an 11 meter-deep burial shaft.

The statue will be displayed on Saturday during the announcement and the antiquities ministry will reveal more details about this discovery.

The statue is made of bronze and inlaid with precious stones red agate, turquoise, and lapis lazuli. It is 35 centimeters tall and its base is engraved with the name of its owner, "Badi Amun," who is from the 26th Dynasty, writes Ahram Online.

In the triad of Memphis, Nefertem was believed to be the son of the creator god Ptah, and the goddesses Sekhmet and Bast were sometimes called his mother. In art, Nefertem is usually depicted as a beautiful young man having blue water-lily flowers around his head.

As the son of Bastet, he also sometimes has the head of a lion or is a lion or cat reclining. The ancient Egyptians often carried small statuettes of him as good-luck charms.

The youthful god Nefertum was traditionally associated with the lotus flower. He is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, however, he became more prominent during the New Kingdom (1539–c.1075) and later.

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As a lotus, he was believed to have emerged from the primeval waters, and he was connected with the sun god because lotus flowers open in the sun. He also had a warlike aspect and could be depicted as a lion.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer