"A rainbow has descended on the garden."
Mesihi.
II.
The little colony who passed from Asia to Egypt and first peopled that portion of the Mediterranean shore, in that time so long past—time without a date—must have carried with them many of their native plants; for several found indigenous only in India are found cultivated there. Among others is the Nymphæ nelumbo, the Lotus. This bore in India a sacred character; the Hindoo fable taught that the little god of love, their Cupid, was first seen floating down the Ganges on a lotus leaf. In very many ways this flower is interwoven with the Hindoo creed, or introduced in their literature—as in the following. It is part of a sublime Hymn to Narayena, in which that great Invisible is thus addressed:
"Omniscient spirit! whose all-ruling power
Bids from each sense bright emanations beam,
Glows in the rainbow, sparkles in the stream,
Smiles in the bud, and glistens in the flower
That crowns each vernal bower!"
—and the radiant being, dazzling and beautiful, who springs to life and typifies the material universe,
"Heavenly pensive on the lotus lay,
That blossomed at his touch, and shed a golden ray."[56]
In Egypt, when carried thither, it naturally retained a sort of sacred character. It is represented in their paintings and sculptures more frequently than any other plant; in scenes of festivity and processions, where it is twined with other flowers into wreaths and chaplets; and also in sacred scenes. Mr. Wilkinson describes a painting found at Thebes, in which is represented the final judgment of a human being:
"Osiris is seated on a throne, as judge of the dead. He is attended by Isis and Nepthys, and before him are the four Genii of Amenti, standing on a Lotus. Horus introduces the deceased whose actions have been weighed in the scales of Truth."
Lotus buds have been often found in the old tombs. It was also introduced into their architecture. The most favorite capital for a column was a full-blown water-plant, supposed to be the papyrus, with a bud of the same, or a lotus bud. A large variety of it called Lotomelia is cultivated there still in gardens.