Ptah
Ptah ( ; , ; ; ; ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god, and a patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertem. He was also regarded as the father of the ...
in the barque) was an
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian official who lived under king
Ramses II
Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
in the 19th Dynasty, around 1250 BC.
Ptahemwia had several titles, providing evidence for his positions mainly at the
Ramesseum
The Ramesseum is the Temples of a Million years, memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great", also spelled "Ramses" and "Rameses"). It is located in the Theban Necropolis in Upper Egypt, on the west of the Ni ...
, the mortuary temple of Ramses II. These include ''king's scribe'', ''Great overseer of the cattle in the Temple of Usermaatre-Setepenre in the House of Amun'' and ''overseer of the treasury of the Temple of Million of Years of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Usermaatre-Setepenre in the House of Amun in Memphis''.
Ptahemwia is known from a number of objects. In 1859,
Théodule Devéria
Théodule Charles Devéria (; 1 July 1831 – 25 January 1871) was a French photographer and Egyptologist who lived in the 19th century. He is known for his collaboration with Auguste Mariette. His younger brother was Gabriel Devéria.
Life
Th ...
photographed the decorated doorway, later lost, of his tomb chapel at
Saqqara
Saqqara ( : saqqāra ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for ...
; the names and titles of Ptahemwia are mostly still readable.
Ptahemwia is also known from some other objects. There is a
pyramidion
A pyramidion (plural: pyramidia) is the capstone of an Egyptian pyramid or the upper section of an obelisk. Speakers of the Ancient Egyptian language referred to pyramidia as ''benbenet'' and associated the pyramid as a whole with the sacred b ...
found in 1860 at Saqqara showing Ptahemwia in front of different gods, inscribed with his names and titles. A statue without head was found at Abydos in 1902, showing Ptahemwia with a smaller statue of
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
in front of him. It is now in the
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture.
It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. The titles listed on the statue (according to Kitchen) include ''overseer of Cattle, overseer of Cattle in the Temple of Usermaatre-Setepenre in the Estate of Amun'', and ''king's scribe of Sacred Offerings of all the gods.''
Ptahemwia's tomb was rediscovered at Saqqara in 2021. A 'cemetery-temple', it was mostly looted in the 19th century. It comprised an entrance, several courtyards and a temple at the western end that would have held deities, crowned with a pyramid. Paintings in colour of people with offerings and a calf slaughter were found in the first room, while the second, containing pillars, appeared to have a burial well. In 2022, Ptahemwia's sarcophagus was found at the tomb site in a burial chamber at the bottom of a vertical shaft.