Editing Imhotep

{{short description|Egyptian polymath, later deified}}
{{About|the ancient Egyptian official|other uses|Imhotep (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Imhotep
| image = Imhotep, donated by Padisu MET DP164134.jpg
| caption = Statuette of Imhotep, 664–30 BC
| native_name = {{langx|egy|Jj m ḥtp}}
| other_names = Asclepius (name in Greek) Imouthes (also name in Greek)
| burial_place = [[Saqqara]] (probable)
| occupation = chancellor to the [[King]] [[Djoser]] and [[High Priest of Ra]]
| years_active = {{circa|[[27th century BC]]}}
| known_for = Being the architect of [[Pyramid of Djoser|Djoser's step pyramid]]
| relatives = [[Djoser]] (possible brother; disputed)
}}
{{Infobox hieroglyphs
|name = <hiero>M18-G17-R4:X1*Q3</hiero>
|name transcription = Imhotep <br /> ''Jj m ḥtp''
|name explanation = ''He who comes in peace''
|name2 = <hiero>M18-G17-R4</hiero>
|name2 transcription = ''Jj m ḥtp''
|name3 = <hiero>M17-M17-G17-R4</hiero>
|name3 transcription = ''Jj m ḥtp''
|Greek expanded title = [[Manetho]] variants:
|Greek = {{ubl|[[Sextus Julius Africanus|Africanus]]: Imouthes|[[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]]: missing|Eusebius,&nbsp;&nbsp;AV:&nbsp;&nbsp;missing}}
|}}

'''Imhotep''' ({{IPAc-en|ɪ|m|ˈ|h|əʊ|t|ɛ|p}};<ref name="Collins">{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/imhotep?showCookiePolicy=true |title=Imhotep |access-date=September 25, 2014 |work=Collins Dictionary}}</ref> {{langx|egy|ỉỉ-m-ḥtp}} "(the one who) comes in peace";<ref name="Ranke 1935 9">{{cite book |last1=Ranke |first1=Hermann |year=1935 |title=Die Ägyptischen Personennamen |trans-title=Egyptian Personal Names |volume=1: Verzeichnis der Namen |page=9 |language=de |publisher=J. J. Augustin |place=Glückstadt |url=http://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/ranke_personennamen_1.pdf |access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref> {{Floruit|late 27th century BC}}) was an [[Ancient Egyptians|Egyptian]] chancellor to the King [[Djoser]], possible architect of [[Pyramid of Djoser|Djoser's step pyramid]], and [[Clergy_of_ancient_Egypt#Hierarchy |high priest]] of the sun god [[Ra]] at [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]. Very little is known of Imhotep as a historical figure, but in the 3,000&nbsp;years following his death, he was gradually glorified and [[Deifying|deified]].

Traditions from long after Imhotep's death treated him as a great author of [[Sebayt|wisdom texts]]<ref name=Wildung-1977>{{cite book |first=D. |last=Wildung |year=1977 |title=Egyptian Saints: Deification in pharaonic Egypt|publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9169-1 |page=34}}</ref> and especially as a physician.<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Osler |year=2004 |title=The Evolution of Modern Medicine|publisher=Kessinger |page=12}}</ref><ref name="Musso2005">{{cite book |last=Musso |first=C. G. |year=2005 |title=Imhotep: The dean among the ancient Egyptian physicians}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=Publisher name, publ. place, opt. ISBN etc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willerson |first1=J. T. |last2=Teaff |first2=R. |year=1995 |title=Egyptian Contributions to Cardiovascular Medicine |journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal |page=194}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=Full journal name, volume & issue numbers, opt. DOI, etc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Roger |last=Highfield |date=10 May 2007 |title=How Imhotep gave us medicine |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |place=London, UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3293164/How-Imhotep-gave-us-medicine.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3293164/How-Imhotep-gave-us-medicine.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Herbowski |first=Leszek |year=2013 |title=The maze of the cerebrospinal fluid discovery |journal=Anatomy Research International |volume=2013 |article-number=596027 |page=5 |oclc=733290677 |lccn=2011243887 |doi=10.1155/2013/596027 |pmid=24396600 |pmc=3874314 |doi-access=free }}</ref> No text from his lifetime mentions these capacities and no text mentions his name in the first 1,200&nbsp;years following his death.<ref>{{cite book |last=Teeter |first=E. |year=2011 |title=Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt |page=96}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=Publisher name, publ. place, opt. ISBN etc.}}</ref><ref name=Baud-2002>{{cite book |last=Baud |first=M. |year=2002 |title=Djéser et la IIIe dynastie |trans-title=Djoser and the Third Dynasty |page=125 |language=French}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021|reason=Publisher name, publ. place, opt. ISBN etc.}}</ref> Apart from the three short contemporary inscriptions that establish him as chancellor to the Pharaoh, the first text to refer to Imhotep dates to the time of [[Amenhotep III]] ({{circa|1391–1353&nbsp;BC}}). It is addressed to the owner of a tomb and reads:

{{Blockquote|text=The [[Priest#Ancient Egypt|wab-priest]] may give offerings to your [[Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul|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. |source=Wildung (1977)<ref name=Wildung-1977/>}}

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 ({{circa|664–332&nbsp;BC}}). Wildung (1977)<ref name=Wildung-1977/> explains the origin of this cult as a slow evolution of intellectuals' memory of Imhotep, from his death onward. [[Alan Gardiner|Gardiner]] finds the cult of Imhotep during the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] ({{circa|1550–1077&nbsp;BC}}) sufficiently distinct from the usual offerings made to other commoners that the epithet "[[demigod]]" is likely justified to describe his veneration.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hurry |first=Jamieson B. |orig-year=1926 |title=Imhotep: The Egyptian god of medicine |year=2014 |edition=reprint |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Traffic Output |isbn=978-0-404-13285-9 |pages=47–48}}</ref>

The first references to the healing abilities of Imhotep occur from the [[Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt|Thirtieth Dynasty]] ({{circa|380–343&nbsp;BC}}) onward, some 2,200&nbsp;years after his death.<ref name=Baud-2002/>{{rp|page=127}}<ref name=Wildung-1977/>{{rp|page=44}}

Imhotep is among fewer than a dozen non-royal Egyptians who were [[Apotheosis|deified]] after their deaths.<ref>Troche, Julia (2021). ''Death, Power and Apotheosis in Ancient Egypt: The Old and Middle Kingdoms''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |editor1-last=Albrecht |editor1-first=Felix
 |editor2-last=Feldmeier |editor2-first=Reinhard
 |date= 2014
 |title=The Divine Father: Religious and philosophical concepts of divine parenthood in antiquity |page=29
 |edition=e-book
 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |place=Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, Massachusetts
 |isbn=978-90-04-26477-9 
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myPvAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 
}}
</ref> The center of his cult was in [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. The location of his tomb remains unknown, despite efforts to find it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lay of the Harper |website=Reshafim.org.il |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/harpers_lay.htm |access-date=2015-06-23}}</ref> The consensus is {{citation needed|date=March 2024}}that it is hidden somewhere at [[Saqqara]].

==Historicity==
[[File:Imhotep JE 49889.png|thumb|left|200px|Drawing of statue JE 49889 base inscription, which mentions Imhotep]]
Imhotep's [[historicity]] is confirmed by two contemporary inscriptions made during his lifetime on the base or pedestal of one of Djoser's statues {{nowrap|(Cairo JE 49889)}} and also by a [[Graffito (archaeology)|graffito]] on the enclosure wall surrounding [[Sekhemkhet]]'s [[Buried Pyramid | unfinished step pyramid]].<ref name=Malek>{{cite book |first=Jaromir |last=Malek |year=2002 |article=The Old Kingdom |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Shaw |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=paperback |pages=92–93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=J. |last=Kahl |date=2000 |article=Old Kingdom: Third Dynasty |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|isbn=0195138228 |editor-first=Donald |editor-last=Redford |edition=1st |volume=2 |page=592}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Malek/>

Imhotep held the ambiguous title ''bity sensen'' or ''bity senwy'', unique in ancient Egyptian history. This literally translates as "the King of Lower Egypt, the two brothers", and could be interpreted to mean that Imhotep might be twin brother of Pharaoh, which would explain his high position; with no known individuals with similar titles, however, interpretation remains highly speculative.<ref>Naunton, Chris (2018). ''Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. p.&nbsp;44. {{ISBN|978-0500051993}}.</ref> If not a blood relative, he might have been the King's confidant or childhood friend.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naunton |first=Chris |title=Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2018 |isbn=978-0500051993 |page=44}}</ref>

===Architecture and engineering===
[[File:Sakkara, la pyramide LCCN2017656975.jpg|thumb|{{center|The step pyramid of Djoser}}]]
{{Main|  Ancient Egyptian architecture}}

Imhotep was one of the chief officials of the [[Pharaoh]] [[Djoser]]. Concurring with much later legends, Egyptologists credit him with the design and construction of the [[Pyramid of Djoser]], a [[step pyramid]] at [[Saqqara]] built during the [[3rd Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Barry J. Kemp |first=B.J. |last=Kemp |title=Ancient Egypt |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |page=159}}</ref> He may also have been responsible for the first known use of stone [[column]]s to support a building.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Rosalie |last2=Baker |first2=Charles |year=2001 |title=Ancient Egyptians: People of the pyramids |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake/page/23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake/page/23 23] |isbn=978-0195122213 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Romer |title=A History of Ancient Egypt from the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid|isbn=9780141399713 |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2013 |pages=294–295}}</ref>

==Deification==
===God of medicine===
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Imhotep
| cult_center = [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]
| image = Imhotep.svg
| hiero = <hiero>ii-m-Htp:t*p</hiero>
| parents = [[Ptah]] and [[Sekhmet]] or [[Khereduankh]]
| consort = [[Renpetneferet]] (sometimes sister)
| siblings = [[Amenhotep, son of Hapu#Legacy|Amenhotep, son of Hapu]], [[Renpetneferet]] (sometimes wife)
| greek_equivalent = [[Asclepius]]
}}
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
Two thousand years after his death, Imhotep's status had risen to that of a god of medicine and [[healing]]. Eventually, Imhotep was equated with [[Thoth]], the god of architecture, mathematics, and medicine, and patron of [[scribes]]: Imhotep's cult was merged with that of his own former tutelary god.

He was revered in the region of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] as the "brother" of [[Amenhotep, son of Hapu]] – another deified architect – in the temples dedicated to Thoth.<ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Boylan |year=1922 |title=Thoth or the Hermes of Egypt: A study of some aspects of theological thought in ancient Egypt |pages=166–168 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref name=Lichtheim-1980>{{cite book |author-link=Miriam Lichtheim |first=M. |last=Lichtheim |year=1980 |title=Ancient Egyptian Literature |publisher=The University of California Press|isbn=0-520-04020-1}}</ref>{{rp|at=v3, p104}} Because of his association with health, the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] equated Imhotep with [[Asclepius|Asklepios]], their own god of health who also was a deified mortal.<ref>{{cite book |first=Geraldine |last=Pinch |year=2002 |title=Handbook of Egyptian Mythology |series=World Mythology |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |place=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9781576072424 |oclc=52716451}}</ref>

According to myth, Imhotep's mother was a mortal named [[Khereduankh]], she too being eventually revered as a demi-goddess as the daughter of [[Banebdjedet]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Marina |last1=Warner |first2=Felipe |last2=Fernández-Armesto |title=World of Myths |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-292-70204-3 |page=296}}</ref> Alternatively, since Imhotep was known as the "Son of Ptah",<ref name=Lichtheim-1980/>{{rp|at=v?, p106}}{{volume needed|date=March 2021|reason=Missing volume number for 3-volume work.}} his mother was sometimes claimed to be [[Sekhmet]], the patron of [[Upper Egypt]] whose consort was [[Ptah]].

===Post-Alexander period===
The Upper Egyptian [[Famine Stela]], which dates from the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic period]] (305–30&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite web |title=The famine stele on the island of Sehel |publisher=Reshafim.org.il |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/famine_stele.htm |access-date=2015-06-23}}</ref>

A [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]] papyrus from the temple of [[Tebtunis]], dating to the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD, preserves a long story about Imhotep.<ref>{{cite conference |author-link=Kim Ryholt |first=Kim |last=Ryholt |year=2009 |title=The Life of Imhotep? |conference=<!-- Actes du -->IXe Congrès International des Études Démotiques |editor1-first=G. |editor1-last=Widmer |editor2-first=D. |editor2-last=Devauchelle |series=Bibliothèque d'étude |volume=147 |place=Le Caire, Egypt |publisher=Institut français d'archéologie orientale |pages=305–315}}</ref> 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 [[Assyria]]n sorceress in a duel of magic.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Kim Ryholt |first=Kim |last=Ryholt |chapter=The Assyrian invasion of Egypt in Egyptian literary tradition |title=Assyria and Beyond |publisher=Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten |year=2004 |isbn=9062583113 |page=501}}</ref>

As an instigator of Egyptian culture, Imhotep's idealized image lasted well into the [[Egypt (Roman province)|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, although he was not the first to actually build with stone. Stonewalling, flooring, [[Lintel (architecture)|lintels]], and jambs had appeared sporadically during the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt|Archaic Period]], even though it is true that a building the size of the step pyramid made entirely out of stone had never before been constructed. Before Djoser, Kings 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."<ref name="Allen">{{cite book |last=Allen |first=James Peter |year=2005 |title=The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300107289 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNbVl5LOjHUC&q=+Imhotep |access-date=August 17, 2016}}</ref>

In his Pulitzer-prize winning “biography” of cancer – ''[[The Emperor of All Maladies]]'' – [[Siddhartha Mukherjee]] cites the oldest identified written diagnosis of cancer to Imhotep.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mukherjee |first=Siddhartha |title=The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer |publisher=Fourth Estate Ltd; First Edition |date=29 September 2011 |isbn=9780007250929}}</ref> Unfortunately, the therapy Imhotep laconically prescribed for it would be equally recognizable for millennia: “There is none”.

==In popular culture==
[[File:An invocation to I-em-hetep, the Egyptian deity of medicine. Wellcome V0018149.jpg|thumb|[[Ernest Board]]: An invocation to I-em-hetep, the Egyptian deity of medicine, {{Circa|1912}}]]
[[Imhotep (The Mummy)|Imhotep's]] name is shared by the antagonist of the 1932 film ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'',<ref>{{cite web |last=Reid |first=Danny |date=24 April 2014 |title=''The Mummy'' (1932) |series=Review, with Boris Karloff and David Manners |website=Pre-Code.com |url=http://pre-code.com/mummy-1932-review-boris-karloff |access-date=6 June 2016}}</ref> its 1999 [[The Mummy (1999 film)|remake]], and that film's [[The Mummy Returns|2001 sequel]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |title=Sarcophagus, be gone: Night of the living undead |via=NYTimes.com |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E06E0D7103CF934A35756C0A96F958260 |access-date=6 June 2016}}</ref> He features in the manga ''[[Im: Great Priest Imhotep]]'' as the protagonist.

==See also==
* [[Imhotep Museum]]
* [[History of ancient Egypt]]
* [[Ancient Egyptian architecture]]
* [[Ancient Egyptian medicine]]
* [[List of Egyptian architects|List of Egyptian Architects]]
* [[Enheduanna]]

{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book
 |editor1-last=Albrecht |editor1-first=Felix
 |editor2-last=Feldmeier |editor2-first=Reinhard
 |date=6 February 2014
 |title=The Divine Father: Religious and philosophical concepts of divine parenthood in antiquity
 |edition=e-book
 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |place=Leiden, NL; Boston, MA
 |isbn=978-90-04-26477-9 |issn=1388-3909
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myPvAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |via=Google Books
 |access-date=May 30, 2020
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Asante |first=Molefi Kete
 |year=2000
 |title=The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten
 |publisher=African American Images |place=Chicago, IL
 |isbn=978-0-913543-66-5
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Cormack |first=Maribelle |author-link=Maribelle Cormack
 |year=1965
 |title=Imhotep: Builder in stone
 |publisher=Franklin Watts |place=New York, NY
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Dawson |first=Warren R.
 |year=1929
 |title=Magician and Leech: A study in the beginnings of medicine with special reference to ancient Egypt
 |publisher=Methuen |place=London, UK
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Garry |first=T. Gerald
 |year=1931
 |title=Egypt: The home of the occult sciences, with special reference to Imhotep, the mysterious wise man and Egyptian god of medicine
 |publisher=John Bale, Sons and Danielsson |place=London, UK
}}

* {{cite book
 |last=Hurry |first=Jamieson B.
 |year=1978 |orig-year=1926
 |title=Imhotep: The Egyptian god of medicine |edition=2nd
 |publisher=AMS Press |place=New York, NY
 |isbn=978-0-404-13285-9
}}

: {{cite book
 |last=Hurry |first=Jamieson B.
 |year=2014 |orig-year=1926
 |title=Imhotep: The Egyptian god of medicine |edition=reprint
 |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Traffic Output
 |isbn=978-0-404-13285-9
}}

* {{cite journal
 |last=Risse |first=Guenther B.
 |date=1986
 |title=Imhotep and medicine — a re-evaluation
 |journal=Western Journal of Medicine
 |volume=144 |issue=5 |pages=622–624
 |pmc=1306737 |pmid=3521098
}}

*{{cite book
 |last=Wildung |first=Dietrich
 |year=1977
 |title=Egyptian Saints: Deification in pharaonic Egypt 
 |publisher=New York University Press
 |isbn=978-0-8147-9169-1
}}

: {{cite book
 |last=Wildung |first=Dietrich
 |year=1977
 |title=Imhotep und Amenhotep: Gottwerdung im alten Ägypten
 |trans-title=Imhotep and Amenhotep: Deification in ancient Egypt 
 |publisher=Deustcher Kunstverlag
 |isbn=978-3-422-00829-8
 |language=de
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite web
 |title=Imhotep (2667–2648&nbsp;BCE)
 |department=[[BBC History]]
 |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]
 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/imhotep.shtml
}}

{{Ancient Egyptian medicine}}{{Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt}}{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:27th-century BC births]]
[[Category:26th-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:27th-century BC clergy]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian architects]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian engineers]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian physicians]]
[[Category:Deified ancient Egyptian people]]
[[Category:Deified men]]
[[Category:Djoser]]
[[Category:Egyptian civil engineers]]
[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:High priests of Re]]
[[Category:People of the Third Dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Primordial teachers]]
[[Category:Wisdom gods]]
[[Category:Thoth]]
[[Category:Demigods]]