Gathering Lotuses
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Egyptian artists used scenes of everyday life to convey important religious messages. This detail from a tomb relief depicts a man gathering a lotus flower and three lotus buds. The Egyptians believed that the lotus was the first living thing to emerge from the waters of chaos at the moment of creation. The flower thus became a potent symbol of creation and rebirth, and its presence in a tomb was believed to assist in the spiritual resurrection of the deceased.
Caption
Egyptian. Gathering Lotuses, ca. 670–650 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 5 5/16 x 5 7/8 in. (13.5 x 15 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 55.3.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 55.3.3_negA_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Culture
Title
Gathering Lotuses
Date
ca. 670–650 B.C.E.
Dynasty
late Dynasty 25
Period
Third Intermediate Period
Geography
Place used: Thebes (El-Assasif), Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
5 5/16 x 5 7/8 in. (13.5 x 15 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
55.3.3
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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