What does the lotus mean in ancient Egypt?

Rebirth and the first sunrise. In one creation story the young sun god rises out of a lotus on the first waters.

What the sign shows: The water lily of the Nile, which closes at night and opens again at sunrise.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Massey sets the lotus beside the papyrus and the tree as cradles of the divine child.
Where you see it today: Lotus-shaped columns hold up Egyptian temples, and the flower is still a common emblem in design.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 40 times across the book. Book V, p. 256: “The people of the reed”; Book XII, p. 731: “The sun rising from the lotus”; Book V, p. 288: “Food that never perishes”.
Signs that look like it: Papyrus, Sycamore and Feather of Maat. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “In one representation, the child issues from the papyrus or lotus, in another from the tree.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book VII, p. 449)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Lotus. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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