Imhotep

The Step Pyramid at Saqqara, Giza is a remarkable innovative structure built during the reign of "Djoser" the third dynasty Pharaoh (2650 BCE). It was the first monumental structure to be built entirely from stone on earth. The architect and designer was Imhotep. Imhotep assumed over the years a superhuman dimension as a man of knowledge, science and arts. Not only an architect but a minister to Djoser, a literary scholar and a well renowned doctor of medicine.

The first architect known by name to written history was Imhotep. As the Pharaoh Djoser's Vizier, he was the probable designer of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC, during the 3rd Dynasty.

A commoner by birth, Imhotep served under four different pharaohs and was high priest of the god Ptah. He was said to be a son of Ptah. Revered as a genius and showered with titles, Imhotep's full list 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 Mennefer, Builder, Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief'. Two thousand years after his death his status was raised to that of a god of medicine and healing.

It was in this Late Period that Imhotep was identified with the Greek demigod Asklaepios and attributed with feats of miraculous healing. During this period, Imhotep was declared the son of Ptah and Sekhmet in the Triad of Mennefer (Memphis), and was sometimes identified with their son Nefertem. He is also named as the son of Ptah and the goddess Khreduankh. In artwork he is linked with other gods (a common practice in Ancient Egypt) such as Hathor, Ma-at, and Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu (another deified architect). Imhotep's association with Ptah led him to be venerated as an agent capable of renewing his father's (Ptah's) generative forces. A stele in the British Museum narrates the story of a lady by the name of Taimhotep (wife of the then High Priest of Ptah), who prayed to Imhotep for a son. The 'god' Imhotep demanded the restoration and embellishment of his sanctuary in northern Saqqara. This was done and in due course Tiamhotep gave birth to a son on Imhotep's festival day.

Imhotep whose name means "In peace" is one example of the "personality cult" of Kemet, whereby a learned sage or otherwise especially venerated person could be deified after death and become a special intercessor for the living. He is said to have been a chief lector-priest (kher-heb/hery-hebt hery-tep) as well as a famed architect and physician. The Step Pyramid complex of Pharaoh Djoser at modern day Saqqara is just one monument attributed to Imhotep's design. More than just a single pyramid, it is a collection of chapels, pavillions, storerooms, with hallways of fluted columns and temples reflecting the magnificence of the pharaoh under whom Imhotep served.

Although Imhotep has been credited with innumerable architectural achievements, the only certainty is that he built the complex of King Neterikhet at Saqqara. His name inscribed on the north side of the enclosure wall of Sekhemkhet's unfinished pyramid suggest that he was also responsible for this later project. Imhotep's diadactic texts were well known in later periods and not only was he honoured by the Greeks but during the Roman era, the emperors Tiberius and Claudius inscribed their praises of the vizer on the walls of their Egyptian temples.

Source
Sementawy Horemheb