science

Lotus chalice

Lotus chalice is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lotus chalice rather than just read about it. In short: The Lotus chalice or Alabaster chalice, called the Wishing Cup by Howard Carter, derives from the tomb of the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun of the 18th Dynasty. The object received the find number 014 and was on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with the inventory numbers JE 67465 and GEM 36.

Key takeaways

Lotus chalice belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lotus chalice to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lotus chalice from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lotus chalice or Alabaster chalice, called the Wishing Cup by Howard Carter, derives from the tomb of the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun of the 18th Dynasty. The object received the find number 014 and was on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with the inventory numbers JE 67465 and GEM 36. It has been moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Discovery The tomb of the young king (KV62) was uncovered almost untouched in the Valley of the Kings in West Thebes by Howard Carter on 4 November 1922. The lotus chalice was one of the first objects that Carter and his excavators found on entering the tomb; the vessel was on the floor immediately inside the antechamber. This was not its original position.

Material and significance

The lotus chalice is carved from a single piece of alabaster. The chalice takes the shape of a white lotus in full bloom, identified by its rounded petals. The supports for the handles are shaped like blue lotus flowers which are flanked by buds growing upward, with the god Heh seated on a basket (the neb symbol) on the tips of the petals. In each hand Heh holds a palm rib with notches for counting the years; each palm rib rests on the back of a tadpole sitting on a shen ring. At the upper end of each palm rib there is an ankh symbol, the sign of life. This is a typical depiction of the god of the "million years", the god of infinity and eternity: the palm rib is the hieroglyph for year, while the tadpole represented 100,000 and the shen ring symbolised eternity. A kneeling image of the god was the hieroglyph for the number "one million". The same motif is found on other items from the tomb like the cedar chair (JE 62029, find number 87). The chalice therefore symbolises the infinite and eternal life of King Tutankhamun. The lotus is significant in Egyptian mythology for the birth of the sun god, who emerged from the lotus, after it had risen out of the flood of the primeval waters of Nun. The name of the king in the centre of the white open flower therefore symbolised his rebirth. This iconography is seen more literally in the Head of Nefertem which depicts Tutankhamun emerging from a blue lotus as the newly risen sun god.

Inscriptions

The inscriptions are engraved and filled with blue pigment. Howard Carter copied the inscriptions and asked Alan Gardiner to provide a translation, since he required this for publication. The main lotus, which forms the actual cup, had the king's prenomen or throne name 'Nebkheperure' and his nomen or personal name 'Tutankhamun' inscribed on it with the epithet 'beloved of Amun-Re, lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands and lord of heaven, given life for ever.' The writing runs from right to left. The inscription on the rim of the chalice is to be read in two directions. From left to right, beginning with the central ankh is the full five-fold titulary of Tutankhamun:

May (he) live, the Horus Mighty Bull, beautiful of birth, the Two Ladies Goodly of Laws, who pacifies the Two Lands, the Horus of Gold Exalted of Crowns, who placates the gods, King of Upper and Lower Egypt and the Lord of the Two Lands Nebkheperure, given life. From right to left, beginning again with the ankh symbol, is the following:

May your ka live, may you spend millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your eyes beholding happiness. Because of the inscription, Howard Carter called the lotus chalice the King's Wishing Cup. The wish inscription from the lotus chalice is quoted on the second gravestone of Howard Carter.

Display In addition to being displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the lotus chalice was among the original finds selected for the first temporary exhibition of the grave goods of Tutankhamun. It was also on display with exhibition number 39 in the world-touring Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition.

Bibliography Jürgen Settgast. Alabaster-Kelch in Ausstellungskatalog Tutanchamun in Köln. von Zabern, Mainz 1980, ISBN 3-8053-0438-2, p. 138. Zahi Hawass. King Tutankhamun. The Treasures Of The Tomb. Thames & Hudson, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-500-05151-1, p. 27. T. G. H. James. Tutanchamun. Der ewige Glanz des jungen Pharaos. Müller, Köln 2000, ISBN 88-8095-545-4, p. 311. M. V. Seton-Williams: Tutanchamun. Der Pharao. Das Grab. Der Goldschatz. Ebeling, Luxembourg 1980, ISBN 3-8105-1706-2, pp. 188–189.

References

External links The Griffith Institute, Oxford: Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation. The Howard Carter Archives. „ Alabaster (calcite) cup or chalice “, Carter No. 014

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lotus chalice

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lotus chalice claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lotus chalice before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lotus chalice ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lotus chalice

In research: Lotus chalice appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lotus chalice in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lotus chalice is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 14th-century BC works, 1922 archaeological discoveries, Alabaster, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lotus chalice outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lotus chalice in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lotus chalice means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lotus chalice out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lotus chalice in simple terms?

Why does Lotus chalice matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lotus chalice?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lotus chalice.