Nefertum

bronze statuette of the God Nefertum holding the ‘Khepesh’-sword of Victory; on His head is represented the Sacred Great Lotus; Late Period (712–332 BCE), now in the British Museum…

 

Nefertum, the “Young Atum”, son of Sekhmet and Ptah (Sekhmet, Ptah, and Nefertum are the Gods of the Memphite Triad), is the God of the Lotus and of perfumes.
Nefertum is a Solar God, a Defender, a Protector, and He is also one of the 42 Judges of the Netherworld. Nefertum is the flower and the perfume of the Lotus blossomed upon the Primeval Mound arisen from the Cosmic Waters of Nun.
As God of the Lotus, and as the lotus-flower itself, Nefertum represents the continuous birth/rebirth of the cosmos.

 

-HYMN TO THE GOD NEFERTUM-
XVIII dynasty, ca. 1550–1292 BCE
(translation from “Fragrance” by J.J. Steele, pag. 290)

“I invoke Nefertum, in the following of Ptah.
You are the Guardian and Protector of the perfume and oil makers,
Protector and God of the Sacred Lotus.
Osiris is the body of the plants,
Nefertum is the soul of the plants, the plants purified.
The divine perfume belongs to Nefertum living forever.”