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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Imhotep Statue at the MET

I can’t go too long without posting about ImhotepΒ π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ! My Nonno always made a point to make sure we saw Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ in every museum that we went to. It was part of the fun of going to the museum!! After seeing β€œThe Mummy” for the first time when I was about ten π“Ž† years old, I had already known about Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ for years from a historical perspective!!

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ, meaning β€œHe who comes in peace,” was a non-royal man π“Šƒπ“€€π“€ who became deified (reached godly status).  This is a very rare occurrence, as it was thought by the Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ that the Pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 was the only god π“ŠΉ on the Earth π“‡Ύπ“‡Ύ.  Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ was not deified in his lifetime – it was about 2,000 𓆼𓆼 years after his death π“…“𓏏𓏱 that he began to be worshipped π“‡Όπ“„Ώπ“€’ as a god π“ŠΉ.  

Not much is known about Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ from his lifetime – much information about Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ is from Demotic texts or stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ that were written thousands of years after his death π“…“𓏏𓏱. 

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ is famous for being an incredible architect and is credited with designing Djoser’s 𓂦 Step Pyramid (aka the first ever pyramid π“‹π“…“𓂋𓉴) at Memphis π“ π“ˆ–π“„€π“†‘π“‚‹π“‰΄π“Š– (modern day Saqqara). He was also a physician! 

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ is always depicted as a man π“Šƒπ“€€π“€ seated in a chair, usually with a piece of papyrus π“…“𓍑𓏏𓏛 in his lap. Much like the god π“ŠΉ Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±(who he is said to be the son π“…­ of), he wears a cap on his head. Once you are able to remember what Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ look like, you will be able to recognize them in any museum that you go to!