Imhotep

Imhotep in hieroglyphs
Imhotep Jj m ḥtp He who comes in peace
Jj m ḥtp
Jj m ḥtp
Greek Manetho variants:	Africanus: Imouthes Eusebius: missing Eusebius,  AV:  missing

Statuette of Imhotep in the Louvre

Imhotep (/ɪmˈhoʊtɛp/;^[1] also spelled Immutef, Im-hotep, or Ii-em-Hotep; called Imuthes (Ἰμούθης) by the Greeks; fl. 27th century BC (c. 2650–2600 BC); Egyptian: ỉỉ-m-ḥtp *jā-im-ḥātap meaning "the one who comes in peace, is with peace") was an Egyptian polymath^[2] 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 by some to be the earliest known architect,^[3] engineer,^[4] and physician in history,^[5] though two other Egyptian figures identified as 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.^[6]

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 referenced in poems: "I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hordedef with whose discourses men speak so much."^[7]

The location of Imhotep's self-constructed tomb was well hidden from the beginning and it remains unknown, despite efforts to find it.^[8] The consensus is that it is hidden somewhere at Saqqara.

Biographical clues

Birth myth

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.^[9] Alternatively, since Imhotep was known as the "Son of Ptah,"^[10] his mother was sometimes claimed to be Sekhmet, the patron of Upper Egypt whose consort was Ptah. According to another tale, his father may have been an architect named Kanofer.

Inscriptions

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.^[11][12] 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.^[13]

The Upper Egyptian Famine Stela, which dates from the Ptolemaic period, bears an inscription containing a legend about a famine of seven years duration 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.^[14]

Biographical papyrus

A demotic papyrus from the ancient Egyptian temple of Tebtunis, dating to the 2nd century AD, preserves a long story about Imhotep.^[15] King Djoser plays a prominent role in the story, which also mentions Imhotep's family; his father the god Ptah, his mother Khereduankh, and his little-sister Renpetneferet. At one point Djoser desires the young Renpetneferet, and Imhotep disguises himself and tries to rescue her. The text also refers to the royal tomb of Djoser. An anachronistic detail is a battle between the Egyptian and Assyrian armies where Imhotep fights an Assyrian sorceress in a duel of magic.

Attributions

Architecture and engineering

Pyramid of Djoser

Imhotep was one of the chief officials of the Pharaoh Djoser. Egyptologists ascribe to him the design of the Pyramid of Djoser, a step pyramid at Saqqara in Egypt in 2630 – 2611 BC.^[16] He may also have been responsible for the first known use of stone columns to support a building.^[17] 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 size of the step pyramid made entirely out of stone had never before been constructed. Prior to Djoser, pharaohs were buried in mastaba tombs.

Medicine

Imhotep has been described as a major figure in Ancient Egyptian medicine, and particularly by James Breasted as 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. The surviving copy of the papyrus was probably written around 1700 BC but may be a copy of texts written a thousand years earlier. However, this attribution of authorship is speculative. Egyptologist James Peter Allen states that "The Greeks equated him with their own god of medicine, Asklepios, although ironically there is no evidence that Imhotep himself was a physician."^[18]

Deification

Two thousand years after his death, Imhotep's status was raised to that of a deity of medicine and healing. He was identified or associated with Thoth, the god of architecture, mathematics, medicine and patron of the scribes, Imhotep's cult merging with that of his former tutelary god. He was also associated with Amenhotep, son of Hapu, who was another deified architect in the region of Thebes where they were worshiped as "brothers" in temples dedicated to Thoth and later in Hermopolis following the syncretist concept of Hermes-Thot,^[19][20] a concept that led to another syncretic belief, that of Hermes Trismegistus and hermeticism. Imhotep was also linked to Asklepios by the Greeks.

Legacy

According to Sir William Osler, Imhotep was the real "Father of Medicine", "the first figure of a physician to stand out clearly from the mists of antiquity."^[21]

Descriptions of Imhotep by James Henry Breasted et al. :

'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 was never forgotten. 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.'

'Imhotep extracted medicine from plants.'

'Imhotep was portrayed as a priest with a shaven head, seated and holding a papyrus roll. Occasionally he was shown clothed in the archaic costume of a priest.'

'Of the details of his life, very little has survived though numerous statues and statuettes of him have been found. Some show him as an ordinary man who is dressed in plain attire. Others show him as a sage who is seated on a chair with a roll of papyrus on his knees or under his arm. Later, his statuettes show him with a god like beard, standing, and carrying the ankh and a scepter.'

'He is represented seated with a papyrus scroll across his knees, wearing a skullcap and a long linen kilt. We can interpret the papyrus as suggesting the sources of knowledge kept by scribes in the "House of Life". The headgear identifies Imhotep with Ptah, and his priestly linen garment symbolizes his religious purity.'

In popular culture

• In modern times, the historical figure lent his name to Imhotep, the title character of the 1932 film The Mummy^[22] and its 1999 remake along with a sequel.^[23]
• Imhotep is a 1985 video game about building pyramids.^[24]
• In 2010 Marvel Comics series S.H.I.E.L.D., Imhotep was the man who formed the very first version of the titular intelligence organisation.^[25]

See also

• History of ancient Egypt
• Third dynasty of Egypt
• Ancient Egyptian architecture
• Ancient Egyptian medicine

References

Further reading

• Asante, Molefi Kete (2000). The Egyptian philosophers : ancient African voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten. Chicago: African American Images. ISBN 0-913543-66-7. 
• Cormack, Maribelle (1965). Imhotep: Builder in Stone. New York: Franklin Watts. 
• Dawson, Warren R. (1929). Magician and Leech: A Study in the Beginnings of Medicine with Special Reference to Ancient Egypt. London: Methuen. 
• Garry, T. Gerald (1931). Egypt: The Home of the Occult Sciences, with Special Reference to Imhotep, the Mysterious Wise Man and Egyptian God of Medicine. London: John Bale, Sons and Danielsson. 
• Hurry, Jamieson B. (1978). Imhotep (2nd ed.). New York: AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-13285-5. 
• Risse, Guenther B. (1986). "Imhotep and Medicine—A Reevaluation". Western Journal of Medicine. 144: 622–624. 
• Wildung, Dietrich (1977). Egyptian Saints: Deification in Pharaonic Egypt. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-9169-7. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Imhotep.

• Imhotep (2667 BC - 2648 BC), BBC History