Imhotep

Imhotep (sometimes spelled Immutef, Im-hotep, or Ii-em-Hotep; called Imuthes (Ἰμούθης) by the Greeks), fl. 27th century BC (circa 2650-2600 BC) (Egyptian ỉỉ-m-ḥtp *jā-im-ḥātap meaning "the one who comes in peace, is with peace") was an Egyptian polymath, 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 known by name [and engineer and physician] in early history though two other good 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."

Some scholars associate Imhotep with the Biblical figure of Joseph.

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."

The location of Imhotep's self-constructed tomb was well hidden from the beginning and it remains unknown, despite efforts to find it.[6] The 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. 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.

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.

These dreams are another factor which has lead some scholars to associate Imhotep with the Biblical figure of Joseph.

Medicine

Imhotep is credited with being the founder of medicine. He was 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 papyrus was probably written around 1700 BC but may be a copy of texts a thousand years older. However, this attribution of authorship is speculative. The Papyrus can be viewed at the Brooklyn Children's Museum, New York City. The 48 cases contained within the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus concern:

• 27 head injuries (cases #1-27)
• 6 throat and neck injuries (cases #28-33)
• 2 injuries to the clavicle (collarbone) (cases #34-35)
• 3 injuries to the arm (cases #36-38)
• 8 injuries to the sternum (breastbone) and ribs (cases #39-44)
• 1 tumour and 1 abscess of the breast (cases #45-46)
• 1 injury to the shoulder(case #47)
• 1 injury to the spine (case #48)

Architecture and engineering

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 BC. 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.

Imhotep was always conceived holding his medical scrolls and his architectural drawings. He was a model figure who defined the training and selection process of all succeeding Egyptian priests and architects within Egypt’s jurisdiction. Although The step pyramid for King Zoser of the 3rd Dynasty was important for the reason that it had exemplified unbelievable skill and the introduction of building with stone, it was also very symbolic. It architectonically represented Ptah-TaTanen, the architect of the universe, and his creation where he evoked the primeval hill (waret) to rise from the primeval waters of nun. The Pyramid of Steps was also designed to serve as a place to worship the sun that symbolized the dead king’s ascent to the sun and passage across the heavens. The architecture highlighted Imhotep’s abilities as an architect, a religious priest and an astronomer. Additionally, in the construction of the Step Pyramid Complex was intended to forever honor the dead.

Egyptians considered Imhotep as a creative and inventive intellectual by the way he enlarged the burial site at Sakkara that was also constructed in stages. He amplified the existing tomb by adding five mastabas that decrease in sizes creating this unique form of architecture known as the great pyramid of steps. The burial compartments are great accomplishments of Imhotep’s work in design and engineering as well as debuted the progression of numerous complex structures such as tunnels, mortuaries, chapels, shafts and rooms for offerings. The massive tombs consisted of mud-brick walls and the style of the structure imitated a palace portico probably to mimic Djoser’s palace in Memphis where he lived at one point in his life.

The fact that Imhotep was an architect, which was extremely unique at that time, got him special treatments from the royal family, several positions and privileges inside the royal palace. This earned him the title of chief of engineering, amongst other essential titles such as prime minister, crown prince and head of the Royal Court. Later, his architecture had tremendous influence on Christian religion and architecture. He was also honored by the Romans, particularly the emperors Claudius and Tiberius whom had inscriptions that praised Imhotep on the walls of many of their Egyptian temples.

The preservation of the kings body was very important to Imhotep, like the conservation of the nation was a responsibility. As a priest who knew all ancient practices and rules, it was a given that he had mastered the understanding of the nature of building. Amongst other values, for Imhotep, it meant definiteness.

Although not certain, it has been believed that during a 40 year period of the Third Dynasty, Imhotep influenced and was the ultimate master builder of numerous other projects which have been finished. He wrote an encyclopedia of architecture that was used as the main bases and as guidance for Egyptian builders thousands of years after his death.

Imhotep (/ɪmˈhoʊtɛp/; Ancient Egyptian: ỉỉ-m-ḥtp "the one who comes in peace"; fl. late 27th century BC) was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, probable architect of the Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. Very little is known of Imhotep as a historical figure, but in the 3,000 years following his death, he was gradually glorified and deified.

Traditions from long after Imhotep's death treated him as a great author of wisdom texts[3] and especially as a physician.[4][5][6][7][8] No text from his lifetime mentions these capacities and no text mentions his name in the first 1,200 years following his death.[9][10] Apart from the three short contemporary inscriptions that establish him as chancellor to the Pharaoh, the first text to reference Imhotep dates to the time of Amenhotep III (c. 1391–1353 BC). It is addressed to the owner of a tomb, and reads:

The wab-priest may give offerings to your ka. The wab-priests may stretch to you their arms with libations on the soil, as it is done for Imhotep with the remains of the water bowl.

— D. Wildung (1977), Egyptian Saints: Deification in Pharaonic Egypt, p. 34. It appears that this libation to Imhotep was done regularly, as they are attested on papyri associated with statues of Imhotep until the Late Period (c. 664–332 BC). To Wildung, this cult holds its origin in the slow evolution of the memory of Imhotep among intellectuals from his death onward. To Alan Gardiner, this cult is so distinct from the offerings usually made to commoners that the epithet of "demi-god" is likely justified to describe the way Imhotep was venerated in the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1077 BC).

The first references to the healing abilities of Imhotep occur from the Thirtieth Dynasty (c. 380–343 BC) onward, some 2,200 years after his death.

Imhotep is among the few non-royal Egyptians who were deified after their death, and until the 21st century, he was thought to be only one of two commoners – along with Amenhotep, son of Hapu – to achieve this status. The center of his cult was in Memphis. The location of his tomb remains unknown, despite efforts to find it. The consensus is that it is hidden somewhere at Saqqara.

Historicity

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. The latter inscription suggests that Imhotep outlived Djoser by a few years and went on to serve in the construction of Pharaoh Sekhemkhet's pyramid, which was abandoned due to this ruler's brief reign.

Architecture and engineering

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 built during the 3rd Dynasty. He may also have been responsible for the first known use of stone columns to support a building. Despite these later attestations, the pharaonic Egyptians themselves never credited Imhotep as the designer of the stepped pyramid nor with the invention of stone architecture.

Deification

Two thousand years after his death, Imhotep's status had risen to that of a god of medicine and healing. He was eventually equated with Thoth, the god of architecture, mathematics, and medicine, and patron of scribes: Imhotep's cult had merged with that of his former tutelary god.

He was revered in the region of Thebes as the "brother" of Amenhotep, son of Hapu, another deified architect, in the temples dedicated to Thoth. Imhotep was also linked to Asklepios by the Greeks.

According to myth, Imhotep's mother was a mortal named Kheredu-ankh, she too being eventually revered as a demi-goddess as the daughter of Banebdjedet. Alternatively, since Imhotep was known as the "Son of Ptah", his mother was sometimes claimed to be Sekhmet, the patron of Upper Egypt whose consort was Ptah.

The Upper Egyptian Famine Stela, which dates from the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BC), bears an inscription containing a legend about a famine lasting 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 Pharaoh, who then had a dream in which the Nile god spoke to him, promising to end the drought.

A demotic papyrus from the temple of Tebtunis, dating to the 2nd century AD, preserves a long story about Imhotep.The Pharaoh Djoser plays a prominent role in the story, which also mentions Imhotep's family; his father the god Ptah, his mother Khereduankh, and his younger sister Renpetneferet. At one point Djoser desires Renpetneferet, and Imhotep disguises himself and tries to rescue her. The text also refers to the royal tomb of Djoser. Part of the legend includes an anachronistic battle between the Old Kingdom and the Assyrian armies where Imhotep fights an Assyrian sorceress in a duel of magic.

As an instigator of Egyptian culture, Imhotep's idealized image lasted well into the Roman period. In the Ptolemaic period, the Egyptian priest and 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. Before Djoser, Pharaohs were buried in mastaba tombs.

Medicine

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."

In popular culture

Imhotep is the antagonistic title character of Universal's 1932 film The Mummy and its 1999 remake, along with a sequel to the remake.