Imhotep

Information about Imhotep

This article is about the ancient Egyptian official. For other uses see Imhotep (disambiguation).

Statuette of Imhotep in the Louvre

Imhotep
in hieroglyphs

Imhotep (sometimes spelled Immutef, Im-hotep, or Ii-em-Hotep, 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 and physician known by name in history ^[2]. The full list of his titles is: Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, First 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. As with Hatshepsut and Senemut's later relationship, Imhotep is 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. ^[3]

The knowledge of the location of Imhotep's tomb was lost in antiquity ^[4] and is still unknown, despite efforts to find it. The general consensus is that it is at Saqqara.

Much else 'known' about him is hear-say and conjecture. The ancient Egyptians credited him with many inventions. As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, DjosÃ¨r, he probably designed the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC ^[5]. He may have been responsible for the first known use of columns in architecture. He has also been acclaimed to be the inventor of the Papyrus scroll, being its oldest known bearer.

Imhotep is credited with being the founder of Egyptian medicine and with being the author of a medical treatise remarkable for being devoid of magical thinking, the so-called Edwin Smith papyrus, detailing 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. This attribution of authorship is speculative, however.^[6].

This man was said to be a son of Ptah, his mother being a mortal named Khredu-ankh.

Legacy

Two thousand years after his death, his 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. The Encyclopedia Britannica says, "The evidence aforded 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."

As the "son of Ian", his mother was sometimes said to be Sekhmet, the patron of Upper Egypt because Ptah often was said to have married her. As Imhotep was considered the inventor of healing, he was also 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 also is linked with the great goddess, Hathor, who eventually became identified as the wife of Ra. He also was identified with Maat, the goddess who personified the concept of truth, cosmic order, and justice—having created order out of chaos and being responsible for maintaining it. An association with Amenhotep son of Hapu, who was another deified architect, also occurred.

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."

An inscription from Upper Egypt, dating from the Ptolemaic period, mentions a famine of seven years during the time of Imhotep. According to the inscription, the reigning pharaoh, Djoser, had a dream in which the Nile god spoke to him. Imhotep is credited with helping to solve the famine. The obvious parallels with the biblical story of Joseph have long been commented upon. ^[7]. More recently, the Joseph parallels have led some alternative historians to identify Imhotep with Joseph, and to argue that the supposedly thousand years separating them are indicative of a faulty chronology. ^[8].

References

1. ^ The Egyptian Building Mania, Acta Divrna, Vol. III, Issue IV, January, 2004.
2. ^ The Evolution of Modern Medicine by William Osler, Kessinger Publishing 2004, p.12
3. ^ Ancient Egypt by Barry J. Kemp, Routledge 2005, p.159
4. ^ The Harper's Lay, ca. 2000 BCE
5. ^ Ancient Egypt by Barry J. Kemp, Routledge 2005, p.159
6. ^ Fractures: A History and Iconography of Their Treatment By Leonard Francis Peltier, Norman Publishing 1990, p.16
7. ^ Vandier, La Famine dans l Egypte ancienne
8. ^ Emmet Sweeney, The Genesis of Israel and Egypt, London, 1997

• • [ e] Notable Ancient Egyptian Rulers
Early Dynastic Rulers	Narmer Hor-Aha Menes
Old Kingdom Rulers	Djoser Sneferu Khufu Khafra Menkaura Pepi II
Middle Kingdom Rulers	Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep IV Senusret III Amenemhat III Sobekneferu
New Kingdom Rulers	Hatshepsut Thutmose III Amenhotep III Akhenaten Tutankhamun Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II
Other Rulers	Shoshenq I Piye Taharqa Psammetichus I Necho II Psammetichus III Ptolemy I Cleopatra VII Ptolemy XIII
Consorts	Tetisheri Ahmose-Nefertari Ahmose Tiye Nefertiti Ankhesenamun Nefertari Mark Antony
Court officials	Imhotep Weni Ahmose, son of Ebana Ineni Senemut Rekhmire Yuya Maya Yuny Manetho Pothinus

Imhotep can refer to

Amenhotep III (sometimes read as Amenophis III), the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt
Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian architect, physician, and court official
the mortuary priest in Agatha Christie's novel

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Egyptian hieroglyphs
Child systems Hieratic

ISO 15924 Egyp

Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.
Egyptian hieroglyphs (sometimes called hieroglyphics
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Egyptians (Egyptian: rmṯnkm.t; Coptic: ni.ramenkīmi; Arabic: مِصريّون miṣriyūn
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polymath (Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής, "having learned much")^[1]^[2] is a person with encyclopedic, broad, or varied knowledge or learning.
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Dynasties of Pharaohs
in Ancient Egypt
Predynastic Egypt
Protodynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period
1st 2nd
Old Kingdom
3rd 4th 5th 6th
First Intermediate Period
7th 8th 9th 10th
11th (Thebes only)

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Consort(s) Inetkawes, Hetephernebti
Unknown

Father Khasekhemwy?

Mother Nimaethap?

Major
Monuments Pyramid of Djoser

Netjerikhet Djoser
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Chancellor or chancellour (archaic) (Latin: cancellarius) is an official title used by most of the peoples whose civilization has arisen directly or indirectly out of the Roman Empire.
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Ra (Re and later Amun-Ra; reconstructed as *ri:ʕu) is the ancient Egyptian sun god. He was a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion by the fifth dynasty.
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Heliopolis (Greek: Ἡλίου πόλις or Ἡλίουπόλις
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An architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a building's construction. The word "architect" (Latin: architectus) derives from the Greek arkhitekton (arkhi (chief) + tekton (builder))")^[1]
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physician applies to a person who practices some type of medicine. Such medical practitioners are concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, through both an area of knowledge
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Wesretkau ^[0]
Mighty of Kas

Nebty
name

<hiero>G16</hiero>
<hiero>M13-X1-M4-M4-M4</hiero> Wadjrenput^[0]
Flourishing of years

Golden
Horus

<hiero>G8</hiero>
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Senemut / Senenmut
in hieroglyphs

Senemut (sometimes spelled Senmut, Senenmut or Senmout) was an 18th dynasty Ancient Egyptian architect and government official.
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Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah (Arabic: سقارة) is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, featuring the world's oldest standing step pyramid ().
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Pyramid of Djoser, or kbhw-ntrw was built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser-Netjerikhet by his Vizier Imhotep. It was constructed during the 27th century BC at the Saqqara necropolis to the northwest of the city of Memphis, and is the central feature of a vast mortuary
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step pyramids has been an ancient part of several cultures throughout history. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers, or steps, of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, as there was no connection
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c. 2613 BC – 2494 BC — The Great Sphinx at Giza is built. Fourth Dynasty.

c. 2601 BC–c. 2515 BC — Great Pyramids at Giza are built for Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu. Fourth Dynasty.

c. 2601 BC — Khufu started to rule in Ancient Egypt.
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c. 2613 BC – 2494 BC — The Great Sphinx at Giza is built. Fourth Dynasty.

c. 2601 BC–c. 2515 BC — Great Pyramids at Giza are built for Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu. Fourth Dynasty.

c. 2601 BC — Khufu started to rule in Ancient Egypt.
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A column in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below.
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Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A wider definition often includes the design of the total built environment: from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of construction details and,
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Papyrus is an early form of thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt.
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Ancient Egyptian medicine refers to the practices of healing common in Ancient Egypt from circa 3300 BC until the Persian invasion of 525 BC. This medicine was highly advanced for the time, and included simple, non-invasive surgery, setting of bones and an extensive set of
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Edwin Smith papyrus is the world's earliest known medical document, written in hieratic around the 17th century BCE, but thought to be based on material from a thousand years earlier.
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Anatomy (from the Greek ἀνατομία anatomia, from ἀνατέμνειν
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The seventeenth century BC was the time period from 1700 BC to 1601 BC .

Events

1700
c. 1700 BC — The last species of mammoth became extinct on Wrangel Island.
c.

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