Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an

ancient Egyptian deity Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...

, a

creator god A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatri ...

and

patron deity A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety an ...

craftsmen Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative *Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...

and

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. In the

triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of

Nefertem Nefertem (; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem ...

. He was also regarded as the father of the sage

Imhotep Imhotep (; egy, ỉỉ-m-ḥtp "(the one who) comes in peace"; fl. late 27th century BCE) was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, possible architect of Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopol ...

Origin and symbolism

Ptah is an Egyptian

who conceived the world and brought it into being through the creative power of speech. A hymn to Ptah dating to the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt says Ptah "crafted the world in the design of his heart," and the Shabaka Stone, from the

Twenty-Fifth Dynasty The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of t ...

, says Ptah "gave life to all the gods and their '' ka''s as well, through this heart and this tongue." He bears many

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

s that describe his role in

ancient Egyptian religion Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present in, and in contro ...

and its importance in society at the time: * ''Ptah the begetter of the first beginning'' * ''Ptah lord of truth'' * ''Ptah lord of eternity'' * ''Ptah who listens to prayers'' * ''Ptah master of ceremonies'' * ''Ptah master of justice'' * ''Ptah the God who made himself to be God'' * ''Ptah the double being'' * ''Ptah the beautiful face''

Representations and hypostases

Like many deities of ancient Egypt he takes many forms, through one of his particular aspects or through

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

of ancient deities of the Memphite region. Sometimes represented as a dwarf, naked and deformed, his popularity would continue to grow during the Late Period. Frequently associated with the god Bes, his worship then moved beyond the borders of Egypt and was exported throughout the

Eastern Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...

. Through dissemination by the

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

, we find figures of Ptah in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

. Ptah is generally represented in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: * The '' Was'' sceptre * The sign of life, '' Ankh'' * The ''

Djed The ''djed,'' also ''djt'' ( egy, ḏd 𓊽, Coptic ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/) is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in ancient Egyptian religion. It is a pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing stab ...

'' pillar These three combined symbols indicate the three creative powers of the god: power (was), life (ankh) and stability (djed). Relief of Ptah

From the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

, he quickly absorbs the appearance of Sokar and

Tatenen Tatenen (also Ta-tenen, Tatjenen, Tathenen, Tanen, Tenen, Tanenu, and Tanuu) was the deity of the primordial mound in ancient Egyptian religion. His name means "risen land"Atef Atef is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified as os ...

crown, an attribute of

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

. In this capacity, he represents the

of the

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memph ...

and other famous sites where the royal pyramids were built. Gradually he formed with Osiris a new deity called Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statuettes representing the human form, the half-human, half-hawk form, or simply the pure falcon form of the new deity began to be systematically placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West. His Tatenen form is represented by a young and vigorous man wearing a crown with two tall plumes that surround the solar disk. He thus embodies the underground fire that rumbles and raises the earth. As such, he was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths, but he was equally feared because it was he who caused earthquakes and tremors of the earth's crust. In this form also, Ptah is the '' master of ceremonies'' for Heb Sed, a ceremony traditionally attesting to the first thirty years of a pharaoh's reign. The god Ptah could correspond with the

sun deities A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. T ...

Re or

Aten Aten also Aton, Atonu, or Itn ( egy, jtn, ''reconstructed'' ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system established in ancient Egypt by the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect o ...

during the

Amarna period The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten ('Horizon of the Aten') in what is now Amarna. It was marked by the ...

, where he embodied the divine essence with which the sun god was fed to come into existence, that is to say to be born, according to the Memphite mythological/theological texts. In the ''holy of holies'' of his

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in Memphis, as well as in his great sacred boat, he drove in procession to regularly visit the region during major holidays. Ptah was also symbolized by two birds with human heads adorned with solar disks, symbols of the souls of the god Re: the Ba. The two Ba are identified as the twin gods Shu and Tefnut and are associated with the djed pillar of Memphis. Finally, Ptah is embodied in the sacred bull, Apis. Frequently referred to as a ''herald of Re'', the sacred animal is the link with the god Re from the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. He even received worship in Memphis, probably at the heart of the great temple of Ptah, and upon the death of the animal, was buried with all the honours due to a living deity in the Serapeum of Saqqara. Scholars have also associated Ptah with the Mandaean angel Ptahil outside of Egypt, due to their somewhat similar features and closely related names. Pooh, Phoh, Loh (Lunus, le dieu-Lune, Sélène), N372

Pooh, Phoh, Loh (Lunus, le dieu-Lune, Sélène), N372

Development of the cult

Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek - Ausstellungssaal 1

The

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...

of the god Ptah quickly spread throughout Egypt. With the major royal projects of the Old Kingdom, the high priests of Ptah were particularly sought after and worked in concert with the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

, filling the role of chief architects and master craftsmen, responsible for the decoration of the royal funerary complexes. In the New Kingdom, the cult of the god would develop in different ways, especially in Memphis, his homeland, but also in Thebes, where the workers of the royal tombs honoured him as patron of craftsmen. For this reason, the oratory of ''Ptah who listens to prayers'' was built near the site of

Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina ( arz, دير المدينة), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom ...

, the village where the workers and craftsmen were housed. At Memphis, the role of intercessor with humans was particularly visible in the appearance of the enclosure that protected the sanctuary of the god. Large ears were carved on the walls, symbolizing his role as ''god who listens to prayers''. With the Nineteenth Dynasty, his cult grew and he became one of the four great deities of the empire of Ramesses. He was worshipped at Pi-Ramesses as master of ceremonies and coronations. With the Third Intermediate Period, Ptah returned to the centre of the monarchy where the coronation of the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

was held again in his temple. The

Ptolemies The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...

continued this tradition, and the high priests of Ptah were then increasingly associated with the royal family, with some even marrying princesses of royal blood, clearly indicating the prominent role they played in the Ptolemaic court.

Main places of worship

Gallery

File:Relief Fragment Depicting Imenet, Ptah and Amenhotep I LACMA M.80.203.16.jpg, Relief fragment depicting Imenet, Ptah and Amenhotep I; 1569–1081 BC; limestone; 21 × 17.5 cm;

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

(US) File:Memphis Museum 32.jpg, Damaged statue of Ramses II with Ptah; 1292–1189 BC; granite; Memphis open-air museum (Egypt) File:Ptah Statue MET DP216330.jpg, Ptah statue; 1070–712 BC; bronze, gold leaf and glass; height: 29.5 cm;

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Cult Image of the God Ptah MET DP142956.jpg, Ancient Egyptian cult image of Ptah; 945–600 BC; lapis lazuli; height of the figure: 5.2 cm, height of the dais: 0.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Head, Ptah MET m2600 front.jpg, Head of Ptah; late 8th–mid 7th century BC; limestone; height: 1.58 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Egyptian - Head of Ptah - Walters 48422.jpg, Head of Ptah; 664–525 BC; faience with blue-green and black glaze; height: 3.5 cm, width: 2.1 cm, depth: 3 cm;

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

(

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, US File:Standing Figure of Ptah MET DP276307.jpg, Standing figure of Ptah; 664–332 BC; faience; height: 9.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Ptah-Patek-E 11202-IMG 8037-gradient.jpg, Ptah-Patek; 4th–3rd century BC; faience; height: 8.5 cm, width: 7.3 cm, thickness: 3.1 cm;

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

Legacy

Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. This word entered

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

as Αἴγυπτος (''Aiguptos''), which entered

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

as ''Aegyptus'', which developed into

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

''Egypte'' and was finally borrowed into English first as ''Egipte'' in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

and ultimately as ''Egypt''. Ptah is one of the deities mentioned in

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's opera '' Aida''. He is invoked in a chorus, "Possente Fthà" ("O Mighty Ptah"), in Act 1, scene 2; this chorus is reprised as "Immenso Fthà" ("Immense Ptah"), at the end of the opera as the protagonists Aida and Radamès die. 5011 Ptah is an asteroid named after the Egyptian god. Ptah appears as a minor character in Rick Riordan's novel '' The Throne of Fire''. While searching for a scroll in the catacombs beneath

Bahariya El-Wahat el-Bahariya or el-Bahariya ( ar, الواحات البحرية "''El-Wāḥāt El-Baḥrīya''", "the Northern Oases"); is a depression and a naturally rich oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is approximately 370 km away from ...

, protagonist Sadie Kane discovers a statue of Ptah and attempts to summon him to help them without success. Later, Ptah suddenly arrives in the body of a date farmer, having merely been delayed in his arrival. Ptah sends an army of rats to destroy an army of mummies sent to attack them the same way as Ptah had once defeated an army of invaders by having a horde of rats eat their bowstrings and sandals in myth. Ptah gives the two some advice and opens a portal for them to reunite with Sadie's brother Carter before being forced to depart the farmer's body.

In popular culture

Notes

References

Literature

* Allen, James P. ''Genesis in Egypt: The Philosophy of Ancient Egyptian Creation Accounts''. New Haven, 1988. * Gunn, Battiscombe G. ''Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke'Gemni: The Oldest Books in the World''. 1998
Google books
* Rothöhler, Benedikt. ''Neue Gedanken zum Denkmal memphitischer Theologie''. Heidelberg, 200
www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/7030
* Sandman Holmberg, Maj. ''The God Ptah''. C. W. K. Gleerup, 1946. * Thompson, Dorothy J. ''Memphis Under the Ptolemies, Second Edition''. Princeton, 2012. * Zivie, Alain-Pierre. ''Memphis et ses nécropoles au Nouvel Empire''. Éditions du CNRS, 1988

External links

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