While working in my CAD program, my wife suggested that I see how the Flower of Life fit with the geometric scheme that was crafted into Ramses’ face. I didn’t think much of the idea (probably a typical left-brain engineer response), but nevertheless, I set about drafting a Flower of Life in my computer. The results are fascinating to look at, but far be it from me to suggest that the designers were dropping flowers all over their plans! Yet this superimposition illustrates, in an analogous way, the complexity of the three-dimensional geometry of Ramses.
The Flower of Life symbol is considered to be sacred among many cultures around the world and is seen as symbolic of the connectedness of all life and spirit in the universe. It is found inscribed in some temples in Egypt—most notably at Abydos, where it is drawn, with meticu-
Lousness, in red ochre on a giant granite support column in the Osirian. The temple contains several of these drawings, and they are believed to have been placed there when the Osirian was filled with sand, for they are located high on the column.
The geometry of the flower consists of intersecting circles that create six equally spaced petals. The arrangement of the flowers in a man-dala is supposed to symbolize unity with the cosmos and aspiration for harmony and perfection. It is a powerful icon in the Indian culture, and it commands profound philosophical and religious reverence.
Though I am not arguing that the use of these geometric elements were necessary to create Ramses’ head, the correlations with the statue of Ramses do illustrate the reality of a greater sophistication than what two-dimensional images can convey.
World History
