Ptah

A very ancient creator god, the patron to those who would utilize the spoken word in their duty (as Ptah made gods by his words.) He was one of very few Egyptian creation deities whose methods were intellectual, rather than physical – he created “with his heart and tongue.” His power was thought to manifest itself in the living, as the sound of one’s heartbeat.

According to inscriptions on the Shabaka Stone, "Every word of the god came into being, through what the heart mediated and the tongue commanded. Ptah was one who had made all things and who had created the gods, and from whom all things proceeded." It was believed that Ptah created the heavens and the earth.

Ptah was a patron of the arts, and artists called themselves “Priests of Ptah.” Craftsmen regarded Ptah so highly that it was claimed that he controlled their destinies. It was said that the god Ptah himself decreed that the “bodies of the gods,” that is, the sacred images in the temples, should be made “according to the wishes of their deities’ hearts” so that they would happily enter wood, stone, clay, and other sculptural methods.

The important Opening of the Mouth ceremony was believed to have been devised by him - "My mouth is opened by Ptah; the bonds that gag my mouth have been loosed. My mouth has been parted by Ptah with this metal chisel of his with which he parted the mouths of the gods."

Known as Mesedjer Sedjem (“The Ear Which Hears”) worshipers left carved stone ears in Ptah's temples in hopes that the god would hear their prayers.

Ptah was associated with the bull, especially the Apis bull.

Ptah was thought to be the brother-husband of Sekhmet and Bast, and the father of Nefertem and Maahes. Sometimes he was considered to be the husband of Tefnut or Wadjet, the creator of Khnum.