Imhotep, Sage, Doctor and Architect of the
Step Pyramid of King Djoser
Imhotep was the architect who designed the Step Pyramid.
He was a high official during the reign of King Djoser.
He was deified and worshiped in the Ptolemaic
period and during the Roman period.
Imhotep (sometimes
spelled Immutef,
Im-hotep, or Ii-em-Hotep;
called Imuthes (Ιμυθες)
by the Greeks),
fl. 27th century BC
(2655-2600 BC) (Egyptian
ii-m-ḥtp*jā-im-ḥatāp
meaning "the one who comes
in peace") was an
Egyptian
polymath,[1]
who served under the
Third Dynasty king,
Djoser, as
chancellor to the
pharaoh and high priest
of the sun god
Ra at
Heliopolis. He is
considered to be the first
architect
engineer[2]
and
physician in early
history
[3] though two
other physicians,
Hesy-Ra and
Merit-Ptah lived around
the same time. The full list
of his titles is:
Chancellor of the
King of Egypt, Doctor,
First in line after the
King of Upper Egypt,
Administrator of the
Great Palace, Hereditary
nobleman, High Priest of
Heliopolis, Builder,
Chief Carpenter, Chief
Sculptor, and Maker of
Vases in Chief.
Imhotep was one of very
few mortals to be depicted
as part of a pharaoh's
statue. He was one of only a
few commoners ever to be
accorded divine status after
death. The center of his
cult was
Memphis. From the
First Intermediate Period
onward Imhotep was also
revered as a poet and
philosopher. His sayings
were famously referred to in
poems: I have heard the
words of Imhotep and
Hordedef with whose
discourses men speak so
much.[4]
The location of Imhotep's
self constructed tomb was
well hidden from the
beginning and it remains
unknown, despite efforts to
find it.[5]
The general consensus is
that it is hidden somewhere
at
Saqqara. Imhotep's
historicity is confirmed by
two contemporary
inscriptions made during his
lifetime on the base or
pedestal of one of Djoser's
statues (Cairo JE 49889) and
also by a
graffito on the
enclosure wall surrounding
Sekhemkhet's unfinished
step-pyramid.[6][7]
The latter inscription
suggests that Imhotep
outlived Djoser by a few
years and went on to serve
in the construction of king
Sekhemkhet's pyramid which
was abandoned due to this
ruler's brief reign.[8]
Attribution of achievements
and inventions
Most known information
about him is based on
hearsay and conjecture. The
ancient Egyptians credited
him with many inventions.
For example, it is claimed
that he invented or improved
the
papyrus scroll.
James Henry Breasted
says of Imhotep:
In priestly wisdom,
in magic, in the
formulation of wise
proverbs; in
medicine and
architecture; this
remarkable figure of
Zoser's reign left
so notable a
reputation that his
name is not
forgotten to this
day. He was the
patron spirit of
the later
scribes, to whom
they regularly
poured out a
libation from the
water-jug of their
writing outfit
before beginning
their work.
—James Henry
Breasted
Engineering and architecture
As one of the officials
of the
Pharaoh,
Djoser, he designed the
Pyramid of Djoser (the
Step Pyramid) at
Saqqara in
Egypt in
2630 –
2611 BCE.[9]
He may have been responsible
for the first known use of
columns in
architecture. As an
instigator of Egyptian
culture, Imhotep's idealized
image lasted well into the
Ptolemaic period. The
Egyptian historian
Manetho credited him
with inventing the method of
a stone-dressed building
during Djoser's reign,
though he was not the first
to actually build with
stone. Stone walling,
flooring,
lintels, and jambs had
appeared sporadically during
the
Archaic Period, though
it is true that a building
of the
Step Pyramid's size and
made entirely out of stone
had never before been
constructed. Before Djoser,
pharaohs were buried in
mastaba tombs.
Medicine
Imhotep is credited with
being the founder of
medicine and with being
the author of a medical
treatise remarkable for
being devoid of magical
thinking; the so-called
Edwin Smith papyrus
containing
anatomical observations,
ailments, and cures.[10][11][12]
The surviving papyrus was
probably written around 1700
BC but may be a copy of
texts a thousand years
older. This attribution of
authorship is speculative,
however.[13]
Birth myths
According to myth,
Imhotep's mother was a
mortal named Kheredu-ankh,
elevated later to
semi-divine status by claims
that she was the daughter of
Banebdjedet.[14]
Conversely, as the "Son of
Ptah",[15]
his mother was sometimes
claimed to be
Sekhmet, the patron of
Upper Egypt whose
consort was
Ptah. Imhotep is said to
have been born near
Memphis.
Deification
As Imhotep was considered
the founder of medicine as a
discipline, he was sometimes
said to be the one who held
up the goddess
Nut (the deification of
the sky), as the separation
of Nut and
Geb (the deification of
the earth) was said to be
what held back
chaos. Due to the
position this would have
placed him in, he was also
sometimes said to be Nut's
son. In artwork he is also
linked with the great
goddess,
Hathor, who eventually
became identified as the
wife of
Ra. Imhotep was also
associated with
Ma'at, the goddess who
personified the concept of
truth, cosmic order, and
justice — having created
order out of chaos and being
responsible for maintaining
that order.
Two thousand years after
his death, Imhotep's status
was raised to that of a
deity. He became the god
of
medicine and
healing. He later was
linked to
Asclepius by the
Greeks. He was
associated with
Amenhotep son of Hapu,
who was another deified
architect, in the region of
Thebes where they were
worshipped as "brothers".[16]
Legacy
According to the
Encyclopedia Britannica,
"The evidence afforded by
Egyptian and Greek texts
support the view that
Imhotep's reputation was
very respected in early
times ... His prestige
increased with the lapse of
centuries and his temples in
Greek times were the centers
of medical teachings."
It is Imhotep, says Sir
William Osler, who was the
real "Father of Medicine",
"the first figure of a
physician to stand out
clearly from the mists of
antiquity."
Imhotep was also
identified with
Thoth, the Egyptian god
of writing, education,
literacy and scribes through
the Greco-Roman Period.
Imhotep's dreams
The Upper Egyptian
Famine Stela, dating
from the Ptolemaic period,
bears an inscription
containing a legend about a
famine of seven years during
the reign of
Djoser. Imhotep is
credited with having been
instrumental in ending it.
One of his priests explained
the connection between the
god
Khnum and the rise of
the Nile to the king, who
then had a dream in which
the Nile god spoke to him,
promising to end the
drought.
In popular culture
In modern times, the
historical figure lent
his name to
Imhotep, the title
character of the 1932
film
The Mummy and
its 1999
remake along with a
sequel.
Imhotep's was used
as the name of a
character in the Agatha
Christie novel
Death Comes as the End
In his tomb he is
described as a hereditary
prince, count, sealer of the
king of Lower Egypt (jrj-pat
HAtj-a xtmw-bjtj) and on
a statue found in his
serdab (and now located
in
Hildesheim), Hemiunu is
given the titles: king's son
of his body, chief justice
and vizier, greatest of the
five of the House of Thoth (sA
nswt n XT=f tAjtj sAb TAtj
wr djw pr-DHwtj).[4]
As Vizier he succeeded
Kanefer, his uncle, and
his father Nefermaat.[5]
Tomb
His tomb lies close to
Khufu's pyramid, and
contains
reliefs of his image.
Some stones of his
mastaba are marked with
dates referring to Khufu's
reign.[6]
His statue[7]
can be found at the
Pelizaeus Museum,
Hildesheim, Germany.[3]
This statue is scheduled to
be loaned for the opening of
the
Grand Egyptian Museum in
2011.
Senenmut,
Chancellor, Architect of Queen Hatshepsut
Senenmut was born to a modest family from Armant.
However, he became the first man in the court of Queen
Hatshepsut.
Senenmut was also the tutor of Princess
Neferure, the daughter of Hatshepsut. Nevertheless, he was
disgraced at the end of Hatshepsut's reign, builder
of Temple of Hatshepsut.
Amenhotep
son of Hapu Sage, Prophet and Architect of King Amenhotep
III
Amenhotep, Son of Hapu, started his official life as a
scribe in the court of Amenhotep the Third at Thebes.
Later
on, he succeeded to a higher rank and became the chief of
the public works. Amenhotep, Son of Hapu
was favoured by the
King. During the Ptolemaic period, he was venerated as a god
of science and healing.
