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Even from the ancient times, the
Egyptians loved the flowers. Today in Egypt are numerous
flower shops and exports many species of flowers.
It seems that the national plants of a
country were recognized in Egypt, were the Lotus was the
symbol of Upper Egypt and the Papyrus the symbol of the
Lower Egypt. And, also,
Egypt it believed to be the first
country to make the artificial flowers, from resistant
materials.
The two flowers were a part
of the Nile Valley` s vegetation. The lotus was also
planted by Egyptians in the pools that were made by
men.
In the Nile
grew two types of lotus (also known as water lilies): the
white lotus and the blue lotus differing one from the other
by their color, the flower` s petals and the fragrance`s
intensity. |
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For the ancient Egyptians, the water lilies were
the symbol of regeneration and of the rebirth, two
significant concepts in the ancient Egypt` s religion.
The
two flowers remained the symbolic plants of Egypt in the
Pharaohs times and in the New Kingdom there were new
plants planted, that were brought from another countries and
that necessitated bigger quantities of water.Among these plants were the red poppy and the cornflower (a
kind of chamomile) that were brought from the Palestinian
area and from Asia Minor and that were depicted on the
buildings` walls and floors. In the Temple of Amun from
Karnak and in the botanical garden of Tuthmosis III were
paintings of flowers like arum, iris and dragonwort, which
were also foreign flowers. |
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In the 18th Dynasty, the Egyptians used to wear big faience
collars made from flowers like blue lotus, cornflower, white
lotus and some fruits as well as green leafs of olive tree,
of pomegranate, of persea, of wild celery and of Egyptian
willow.
The beautiful flowers of cornflowers, blue lotus and bitterrweed were also used at collars.
During the New Kingdom the mummies were adorned with a
flowers garland like the one found with the Tutankhamun`s
mummy. |
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The garlands were made from white acacia, the hairy
willow herb, the Nile acacia, the chrysanthemum and the sesban.
There were also used flowers
from Palestine and Asia Minor such as safflowers, hollyhock
and delphinium. The mummies garlands from the 20th Dynasty
included flowers of henna bush brought from East Africa and
from the Indian Ocean's costal regions.
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Other flowers used at the mummy
garlands were the ones of wild celery, of mint and of dill.
In the present times, the Egypt flowers are also loved and
important. Egypt is an important exporter of numerous types
of plants and flowers especially to Europe; the flower
export is about 600 tones on year.
In Egypt are many places where the tourists can enjoy the
beauty of the flowers, like the Botanical Island from Aswan,
with various trees, semi-equatorial and equatorial plants.
In Cairo, at the Agricultural Museum, is a huge collection
of many types of flowers. |
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