Tag: imhotep

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Egyptian Artifacts

Faience Tiles from Djoser’s Step Pyramid


Djoser 𓂦 was the first pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 of the 3rd Dynasty, and his Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was the first large stone structure in Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–. Designed by the architect Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ, who was later deified, the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was meant to provide the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 with a large funerary complex and a home for eternity π“Ž›π“‡³π“Ž›.

These blue faience tiles decorated the lower levels of Djoser’s 𓂦 Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 Complex. There were over 30,000 tiles used!!! The tiles were meant to represent various types of reeds that covered the walls of Djoser’s 𓂦 palace.

I have always been obsessed with anything having to do with the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 solely because of Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ. My Nonno always spoke more about Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ than Djoser 𓂦! My Nonno always pointed these tiles out to me in the museum. While to most people, the tiles look somewhat insignificant compared to beautifully carved reliefs and statues, my Nonno always said that these types of tiles were important because they were really only found in the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 and one of Djoser’s 𓂦 other buildings at Saqqara. The tiles were pretty much a β€œuniquely Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ” thing according to Nonno!

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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! 

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Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statue of Imhotep at the Brooklyn Museum

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 who became deified. 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. Imhotep was not deified in his lifetime – it was 2,000 years after his death that he began to be worshipped 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 𓅓𓏏𓏱.

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ was regarded as the Son π“…­ of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±, who was the god π“ŠΉ of craftsmen and architects. He was also part of the Memphis Triad, which consisted of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“€­, Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ and Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Faience Tiles from the Step Pyramid

Djoser 𓂦 was the first pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 of the 3rd Dynasty, and his Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was the first large stone structure in Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–. Designed by the architect Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ, who was later deified, the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 was meant to provide the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 with a large funerary complex and a home for eternity π“Ž›π“‡³π“Ž›.

These blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸π“₯ faience π“‹£π“ˆ–π“π“Έπ“Ό tiles decorated the lower levels of Djoser’s 𓂦 Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 Complex. There were over 30,000 tiles used!!! The tiles were meant to represent various types of reeds that covered the walls of Djoser’s 𓂦 palace.

I have always been obsessed with anything having to do with the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 solely because of Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ. My Nonno always spoke more about Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ than Djoser 𓂦! My Nonno always pointed these tiles out to me in the museum. While to most people, the tiles look somewhat insignificant compared to beautifully π“„€ carved reliefs and statues, my Nonno always said that these types of tiles were important because they were really only found in the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 and one of Djoser’s 𓂦 other buildings at Saqqara. The tiles were pretty much a β€œuniquely Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ” thing according to Nonno!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statues of Sekhmet and Imhotep

This setup at the MET reminded me so much of my Nonno because Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ and Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ were two of his favorite ancient Egyptian figures! Even better, is they these are both bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ; he loved all of the bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ so much! Seeing the two 𓏻 statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ next to each other made me miss my Nonno so much.

Sekhmet (left) and Imhotep (right)

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ, meaning β€œHe who comes in peace,” was a non-royal man who became deified. 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 𓇾𓇾. Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ was not deified in his lifetime – it was 2,000 years after his death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 that he began to be worshipped 𓇼𓄿𓀒 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 𓆼𓆼𓆼 of years after his death 𓅓𓏏𓏱.

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ was regarded as the Son π“…­ of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±, who was the creator god π“ŠΉ of craftsmen and architects. He was also part of the β€œMemphis Triad,” which consisted of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“€­, Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“…“π“π“ and Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ.

Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“π“ was the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of war, but she is usually pictured with the sun disc 𓇳𓏀 on her head 𓁢𓏀 because she was also associated with the destructive aspects of the sun 𓇳𓏀 – such as the extreme heat of the desert π“…Ÿπ“‚‹π“π“ˆŠ! Sekhmet π“Œ‚π“π“π“ was one powerful lady, and the Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ had many festivals dedicated to her in order to keep her happy!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Bronze Statue of Imhotep

Small Bronze Statue of Imhotep at The MET

Seeing the small π“ˆ–π“†“π“‹΄π“…© bronze π“ˆ”π“€π“ˆ’π“¦ statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ of Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ are one of my favorite parts of going to the museum! My Nonno loved Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ and always pointed him out to us! We even played a game as to who could find Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ first!Β I had to get a picture 𓏏𓅱𓏏 of me with the statue π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύ!

Nicole (me) with Imhotep at The MET

Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ, whose name π“‚‹π“ˆ– means β€œhe who comes in peace,” was a high official π“‹΄π“‚‹π“€€ (β€œoverseer of the works” and a priest π“ŠΉπ“› of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±) during the reign π“‹Ύ of the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 Djoser 𓂦 during the 3rd Dynasty. Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ is most famous for constructing the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴 at Memphis π“ π“ˆ–π“„€π“†‘π“‚‹π“‰΄π“Š– (modern day Saqqara). In addition to being a priest π“ŠΉπ“› and architect, he is also connected with medicine, even though no written evidence of his achievements in medicine has been found.

Even though Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ lived during the Old Kingdom and reached demigod status (he is thought to be the son π“…­ of Ptah π“Šͺπ“π“Ž›π“±) within a century of his death, it wasn’t until the Late Period/Ptolemaic Period that the worship 𓇼𓄿𓀒 of Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ reached its peak. Imhotep π“‡π“…“π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ is one of the few commoners to ever reach godly status and cult centers dedicated to his worship 𓇼𓄿𓀒 were located at Memphis π“ π“ˆ–π“„€π“†‘π“‚‹π“‰΄π“Š–, Philae, and Thebes π“Œ€π“π“Š–. His tomb π“‡‹π“«π“Šƒπ“‰ has never been found, though if I had to guess, I would think it would be at Saqqara – near the Step Pyramid 𓍋𓅓𓂋𓉴!