Nefertum (Nefertem) is a creature of eternal beauty. At the time of Creation he rises from the waters as a blue lotus flower, which is forever his symbol. He's part of the Memphis Triad with Ptah and Sekhmet.
Creation God Ptah and daughter of Ra, Sekhmet, are considered his parents. He's part of the tutelary trinity of Memphis, Egypt. Nefertum represents the first sunlight, and also the fragrance of the blue water lily.
A version of the Book of the Dead reads:
Rise like Nefertem from the blue water lily, to the nostrils of Ra (creator and sun god), and come forth upon the horizon each day.
His flowers are specific, the Egyptian blue lotus or Nymphaea caerulea, a psychoactive plant. N. caerulea is blue to bluish purple in color. Along with the white lotus they're indigenous to Egypt.
When the sun comes up the water lilies spread their petals and let the fragrance rise to greet the dawn. People associate the lotus flower with the sun as it closes at night and opens through the day.
Nefertum has a number of epithets including
He Who is Beautiful
Water-Lily of the Sun
He Who Opens In Beauty
Beautiful One Who Does Not Close
His name itself means "he who sees beauty" or "beautiful one".
In artistic depictions he appears with a stylized lotus flower crown and blue head cloth. In the picture below he's shown at left looking left. He wears the divine beard and carries a staff and an ankh. The Ankh is the symbol and essence of all life.
He's beloved as a personal and family deity. Statuettes and figurines of Nefertum are often found in excavation sites as they're carried as magic charms for good luck.
They're created in pottery, bronze, stone or blue Egyptian faience. Apart from Memphis, Nefertum has a temple with Sekhmet in Leontopolis in the Nile Delta of Lower Egypt.
Otherwise he has no specific cult center, but is worshipped throughout the lands. Nefertum acknowledges the conflicts of fortune, and helps people see and share the beauty of the world.
His mother's identity is called into question. Although Nefertum rules in Memphis in a family triad with Sekhmet, in other regions he's thought to have Bastet as his mother. In this case he might be shown with the head of a cat or lion, and often in reclining position.
Besides the Blue Lotus, the symbols of Nefertum include the cat or lion. This is only in the areas his mother is presumed to be Bastet, who has a lion's head before it changed to that of a cat. The change occurred to help harmonize and synch the goddesses Bastet and Sekhmet.
Greeting the Sun every morning, Nefertum is the Good Son who functions at a level between esoteric and intuitive. He's a patron of beauty wherever it may be found. Mortal worries and even soap operas of the Gods have little effect on him.
Nefertum enjoys a long reign, from the Old Kingdom of c. 2649 - 2130 BCE at least to the early days of the Romans. He expands into a God of the Sun, Rebirth, Beauty and Perfume.
He has a kind and generous personality. A sculpture of the God's head emerging from a water lily is found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, indicating the importance of Nefertum to the Pharaohs.
The paints are red and yellow ochre, colors of iron oxide or the Earth. The emergence of the God's head signifies rebirth of the Pharoah. Kohl supplies the dark colors of the eyes and brows.
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