He was a genius - the first genius in the history of human civilization. He was recognized during his lifetime and revered after his death for several millennia. He is called the predecessor of Leonardo da Vinci.
We should remember his name - Imhotep, which means "entering the world." Previously, it was assumed that Imhotep was a fictional person, he was considered a mythological character, but later it was proved that Imhotep was a real historical person.
And I caught myself thinking that this name evokes an image from the movie "The Mummy" in me. We need to find out more about a real person, although for so many years who already knows what is real and what is invented …
Imhotep was the world's first architect, builder of the first Egyptian pyramid, physician, priest, poet and supreme vizier of Pharaoh Djoser. The inscriptions on the statues of the pharaoh represent Imhotep as “the chancellor of the king of Lower Egypt”, “the first person after the pharaoh”, “the high priest Iunu”, “the chief sculptor”, “the chief carpenter”. As a commoner, Imhotep, thanks to his talents, rose to the heights of the first person of Egypt.
There are almost no details about Imhotep's life. Perhaps Imhotep was born in the suburb of Het-Ka-Pta (Memphis). However, other classical writers suggest that he came from the village of Gebelein, south of ancient Thebes. His father was an architect named Kanofer. Imhotep was married to a noble lady named Ronfrenofert. However, this information has no reliable confirmation. Presumably, Imhotep lived during the era of the four pharaohs. He was a contemporary of Djoser, the pharaoh of the third dynasty (Old Kingdom). Until that time, almost no stone buildings were built in Egypt. The houses of the Egyptians were made of clay and reed, and the palaces and tombs-mastabas were built of bricks.
Djoser, as was the custom of the pharaoh, began to build his own tomb during his lifetime, this large mastaba has been partially preserved. However, in addition to this, the pharaoh decided to start building the first pyramid proposed by Imhotep. The construction plan looked like this: on a large mastaba, another smaller one was erected, and so on up to six diminishing mastabas. So a step pyramid with a height of about seventy meters appeared.
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Imhotep's second invention in the field of construction is also associated with the pyramid of Djoser. Imhotep was the first to design and erect a stone temple complex at the tomb of the pharaoh, which was the first structure in Egypt, entirely built of limestone. However, the decorative elements, columns, roofs, cornices and walls of these buildings closely followed the details and shapes of traditional brick and wooden buildings of that era. The center of the complex is a stepped pyramid surrounded by religious buildings. The total area of the complex was 540 x 278 meters.
Imhotep's genius was not limited to construction. He remained in the memory of posterity as a great scientist and writer. Imhotep's "Sayings" became the beginning of the development of Egyptian folk literature. Imhotep was able to become famous as a doctor. Imhotep's medical records give an indication of his achievements in this area. As a physician, Imhotep was the author of The Edwin Smith Papyrus, which contains over ninety anatomical terms and forty-eight descriptions of injuries. Presumably, it was Imhotep who founded the School of Medicine in Memphis. And all this is millennia before the birth of the founder of Western medicine, Hippocrates. Later, it was Imhotep who served as the prototype for the Greek god of medicine Asclepius.
Sir William Osler wrote about Imhotep: “… at first he was a doctor, this is clear from the mists of antiquity. Imhotep diagnosed and treated more than 200 diseases, 15 stomach diseases, 11 bladder diseases, 29 eye diseases, 18 skin diseases, as well as hair, nails and tongue. Imhotep dealt with tuberculosis, appendicitis, gout and arthritis. He also performed surgery and dental treatment. Imhotep received medicines from plants. He knew the location and function of vital organs and the circulation of the circulatory system.
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that the evidence provided by Egyptian and Greek sources gives an idea of Imhotep as a respected figure in the era of early civilization. Its prestige has only increased over the centuries, and its temples even in Greek times became centers of medical education.
Along with medicine, Imhotep was a teacher of architects and scribes. James Henry Brasted wrote: “In priestly wisdom, in the addition of wise proverbs, in medicine and architecture, this remarkable man of the era of Djoser became so widely known that his name was never forgotten. He became the inspiration for the scribes of future generations. Before starting to work, the scribes poured water from a vessel on the floor”(approx. So they expressed their respect to Imhotep).
Imhotep is also widely known as the Maa priest who held the supreme title of Ur Maa. Historians call him an example of the "cult of personality", when a person, thanks to his deeds after death, is considered a saint and protector of the living. About a hundred years after his death, Imhotep was canonized as the patron saint of medicine and writing.
In the Turin Canon, he was revered as "the son of Ptah." He was revered on a par with Thoth - the keeper of sacred wisdom, and like Thoth was sometimes identified with the ibis bird. The first Christians venerated Imhotep as a saint. Christian Roman emperors placed inscriptions praising Imhotep on the walls of Egyptian temples. Imhotep found a place in Arab traditions, especially in Saqqara, where his tomb is supposedly located.
It is believed that the main cult centers of Imhotep were in the Ptolemaic temple of Hathor in Deir el-Medina; in the Karnak temple in Thebes, where he was venerated together with Amenhotep, the son of Hapi; on the upper terrace of the Hatshepsut temple in Deir el-Bahri, the sanctuary of Imhotep was built; and on the island of Philae, in front of the eastern pylon of the Temple of Isis, his chapel was located. In Memphis, in Lower Egypt, a temple was erected in honor of Imhotep near the Serapeum.
There are legends that Imhotep helped people after his death, the Egyptians brought offerings in the form of mummified ibises to the place of his veneration in Sakkara, and the sick, in the hope of healing, brought "models" of diseased body parts molded from clay.
The genius lived a long life and died during the reign of Pharaoh Huni. The burial place of Imhotep has not been found, but there are suggestions about Sakkara, perhaps it is mastaba N3518. The statue of Imhotep became the first portrait of a scientist - its fragments were found in the funeral temple of the pharaoh.