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{{dablink|This article is about the ancient Egyptian official. For other uses see [[Imhotep (disambiguation)]].}}

[[Image:Imhotep-Louvre.JPG|thumb|Statuette of Imhotep in the [[Louvre]]]]
[[Image:Imhotep.JPG|right|thumb|Another image of the same statue]]
<div style="float:right">{{hiero|Imhotep|<hiero>M18-m-R4 </hiero>}}</div>
'''Imhotep''' (sometimes spelled '''Immutef''', '''Im-hotep''', or '''Ii-em-Hotep''', Egyptian {{unicode|''ii-m-ḥtp''}} {{unicode|''*jā-im-ḥatāp''}} meaning "the one who comes in peace") was an [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] [[polymath]],<ref>[http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/436803 The Egyptian Building Mania], ''Acta Divrna'', Vol. III, Issue IV, January, 2004.</ref> who served under the [[third dynasty of Egypt|Third Dynasty]] king, [[Djoser]], as [[chancellor]] to the [[pharaoh]] and high priest of the sun god [[Ra]] at [[Heliopolis (ancient)|Heliopolis]]. He is considered to be the first [[architect]] and [[physician]] in history known by name <ref>William Osler, ''The Evolution of Modern Medicine'', Kessinger Publishing 2004, p.12</ref>.  The full list of his titles 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 Heliopolis, Builder, Chief Carpenter, Chief Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief''. Imhotep was one of very few mortals to be depicted as part of a pharaoh's statue. He was one of only a few commoners ever to be accorded divine status after death. The center of his cult was Memphis. From the First Intermediate Period onward Imhotep was also revered as a poet and philosopher.  His sayings were famously referred to in poems: ''I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hordedef with whose discourses men speak so much.'' <ref>Barry J. Kemp, ''Ancient Egypt'' Routledge 2005, p.159</ref>

The knowledge of the location of Imhotep's tomb was lost in antiquity <ref>[http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/harpers_lay.htm The Harper's Lay, ca. 2000 BCE]</ref> and is still unknown, despite efforts to find it. The general consensus is that it is at [[Saqqara]].

==Attribution of achievements and inventions==
Much else 'known' about him is hear-say and conjecture.  The ancient Egyptians credited him with many inventions. He has e.g. been claimed to be the inventor of the  [[Papyrus]] scroll,{{Fact|date=October 2007}} being its oldest known bearer. 
===Architecture===
As one of the officials of the [[Pharaoh]], [[Djoser|Djosèr]], he probably designed the [[Pyramid of Djoser]] (the [[Step Pyramid]]) at [[Saqqara]] in [[History of ancient Egypt|Egypt]] around [[27th century BC|2630]]-[[27th century BC|2611 BC]] <ref>Barry J. Kemp, ''Ancient Egypt'', Routledge 2005, p.159</ref>. He may  have been responsible for the first known use of [[column]]s in [[architecture]].  
As an instigator of Egyptian culture, Imhotep's idealized image lasted well into the Ptolemaic period. The Egyptian historian [[Manetho]] credited him with inventing the method of a stone-dressed building during Djoser's reign, however he was not the first to actually build with stone. Stone walling, flooring, lintels, and jambs had appeared sporadically during the [[Archaic Period]], though it is true that a building of the [[Step Pyramid]]'s size and made entirely out of stone had never before been constructed.
===Medicine===
Imhotep is credited{{Fact|date=October 2007}} with being the founder of [[Ancient Egyptian medicine|Egyptian medicine]] and with being the author of a medical treatise remarkable for being devoid of magical thinking, the so-called [[Edwin Smith papyrus]] containing [[anatomy|anatomical]] observations, ailments, and cures. The surviving papyrus was probably written around [[1700 BC]] but may be a copy of texts a thousand years older. This attribution of authorship is speculative, however.<ref>Leonard Francis Peltier, ''Fractures: A History and Iconography of Their Treatment'', Norman Publishing 1990, p.16</ref>.

==Birth myths==
According to myth Imhotep's mother was a mortal named ''Kheredu-ankh'', elevated later to semi-divine status by claims that she was the daughter of Banebdjedet.<ref>Marina Warner, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, ''World of Myths'', University of Texas Press 2003,  ISBN 0292702043, p.296</ref> Conversely, as the "Son of Ptah",<ref>Miriam Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings'',  University of California Press 1980, ISBN 0520040201, p.106</ref> his mommy woved his head for its shinyniss

==Deification==
As Imhotep was considered the inventor of healing, he was also sometimes said to be the one who held up the goddess [[Nut (goddess)|Nut]] (the deification of the sky), as the separation of Nut and [[Geb]] (the deification of the earth) was said to be what held back [[chaos]]. Due to the position this would have placed him in, he was also sometimes said to be Nut's son. In artwork he also is linked with the great goddess, [[Hathor]], who eventually became identified as the wife of [[Ra]]. He also was associated with [[Maat]], the goddess who personified the concept of truth, cosmic order, and justice—having created order out of chaos and being responsible for maintaining it.

Two thousand years after his death, his status was raised to that of a [[god|deity]]. He became the god of [[medicine]] and [[healing]]. He later was linked to [[Asclepius]] by the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]]s. He was associated with [[Amenhotep son of Hapu]], who was another deified architect, in the region of Thebes where they were worshipped as "brothers".<ref>M. Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', The University of California Press 1980, vol.3, p.104</ref>

== Legacy ==
The ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' says, "The evidence afforded by Egyptian and Greek texts support the view that Imhotep's reputation was very respected in early times... His prestige increased with the lapse of centuries and his temples in Greek times were the centers of medical teachings." 

It is Imhotep, says Sir William Osler, who was the real Father of Medicine. "The first figure of a physician to stand out clearly from the mists of antiquity."

An inscription from Upper Egypt, dating from the Ptolemaic period, mentions a famine of seven years during the time of Imhotep. According to the inscription, the reigning pharaoh, Djoser, had a dream in which the Nile god spoke to him. Imhotep is credited with  preventing the famine.<ref>Erik Hornung, ''The Secret Lore of Egypt: Its Impact on the West'', Cornell University Press 2001, ISBN 0801438470, p.50</ref> The obvious parallels with the biblical story of Joseph have long been commented upon. <ref> Vandier, ''La Famine dans l Egypte ancienne''</ref>. More recently, the Joseph parallels have led some alternative historians to identify Imhotep with Joseph, and to argue that the supposedly thousand years separating them are indicative of a faulty chronology. <ref>Emmet Sweeney, ''The Genesis of Israel and Egypt'', London, 1997</ref>.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==See also==
{{commons|Imhotep}}
* [[List of Egypt-related topics]]
** [[History of ancient Egypt]]
*** [[Old Kingdom]]
*** [[Third dynasty of Egypt]]
** [[Ancient Egyptian architecture]]
*** [[Pyramid of Djoser]]
** [[Ancient Egyptian medicine]]
** [[Pharaoh]]
** [[Ptah]]
* ''Other lists''
** [[List of deities]]
** [[List of architects]]
* [[Timeline of medicine and medical technology]]
* [[Column]]

{{Ancient Egyptians}}

[[Category:Ancient Egyptians]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian priests]]
[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Wisdom gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Primordial Teachers]]
[[Category:Ancient and medieval physicians]]

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