Imhotep

A rare example of a commoner who reached the rank of god by sheer merit, Imhotep lived in the 27th century B.C.E. He was revered as a genius and showered with titles, eventually becoming worshiped as the god of medicine, knowledge, and architecture. Imhotep is known among Egyptologists as “Egypt’s Leonardo da Vinci.”

Imhotep was the vizier, chief architect, high priest, astrologer, scribe, and physician to the Pharaoh Djoser. Besides his weighty duties to the king, he also wrote extensively, developed revolutionary medical procedures, and was revered throughout Egypt.

Imhotep is one example of a “personality cult” of ancient Egypt, whereby a learned sage or otherwise especially venerated person could be deified after death and become a special intercessor for the living, much as the saints of Roman Catholicism.

It was Imhotep who created the first monumental building in history made of hewn stone: the famous Step Pyramid of Saqqara. He may have been responsible for the first known use of columns in architecture.

Imhotep also founded a school of medicine in Memphis, a part of his cult center known as Asklepion, which remained famous for over two thousand years. All of this occurred some 2,200 years before the Western “Father of Medicine,” Hippocrates, was born. Hippocrates himself was said to have been inspired by books kept in the Temple of Imhotep.

In the New Kingdom Imhotep was venerated as the patron of doctor-scribes - scribes would pour a few drops of water in libation to him before beginning to write. Hymns praise Imhotep as “the kind-hearted god, who heals them, who revives them, who renews his father's creation.” Imhotep was supposed to send sleep to those who were suffering or in pain.

Mummified ibises were left by worshipers as votive offerings for Imhotep in his temples, and pilgrims also left models of injured limbs or diseased organs in the hope of being healed by the god. Amulets of Imhotep, carried for good luck, were popular – over 400 have been found.

Eventually, Imhotep's mother Khereduankh came to be revered as a demi-goddess as well.

Imhotep was considered to be the son of the god Ptah (by his human mother Khereduankh), and the brother of Thoth and Nefertem. In a few instances his mother was thought to be the goddess Sekhmet.

This god has been sadly perverted in a series of sensational Hollywood films - "The Mummy.” The fact that Imhotep was a peaceful deity of healing and wisdom has been completely overlooked.