In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (Ancient Egyptian: ptḥ, probably vocalized as Pitaḥ in Ancient Egyptian) is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects. In the Memphis triad, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum. He was also considered the father of the wise Imhotep.
1. Origin and symbolism of the god Ptah
Ptah is an Egyptian deity and considered the demiurge who existed before all other things and who, by his will, thought that the world existed. He was first conceived by Thought and realized by the Word: Ptah conceives the world through the thought of his heart and gives life through the magic of his Word. What Ptah commanded was created, thus encompassing the constituents of nature, fauna, and flora. He also plays a role in the preservation of the world and the permanence of the royal function.
In the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, the Nubian pharaoh Shabaka transcribed on a stele known as the Shabaka Stone, an ancient theological document found in the archives of the temple library of the god in Memphis. This document has been known as the Memphite Theology, and shows the god Ptah, the deity responsible for the creation of the universe through thought and word.
Ptah is the patron of crafts, metallurgy, carpenters, shipbuilders, and sculpture. He has many epithets that describe his role in ancient Egyptian religion and his importance in the society of the time:
- Ptah, the beautiful face
- Ptah, lord of truth
- Master of Justice of Ptah
- Ptah who hears prayers
- Master of ceremonies of Ptah
- Ptah, lord of eternity
2. Representations and hypostases of the god Ptah
Like many deities in ancient Egypt, he takes many forms, through one of his particular aspects or through the syncretism of ancient deities from the Memphite region. Sometimes depicted as a dwarf, naked and deformed, his popularity continued to grow during the Late Period. Frequently associated with the god Bes, his cult spread beyond the country’s borders and was exported throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Through the spread of the Phoenicians, we find figures of Ptah in Carthage.
Ptah is usually depicted as a green-skinned man, wrapped in a shroud that clings to his skin, wearing the divine beard and holding a scepter that combines three powerful symbols of the ancient Egyptian religion:
- The scepter of Was
- The sign of life, Ankh
- The Djed pillar
These three symbols combined indicate the three creative powers of the god: power (era), life (ankh), and stability (djed).
From the Old Kingdom, he quickly absorbed the appearance of Sokar and Tatenen, ancient deities of the Memphite region. His form as Sokar is contained in his white shroud with the crown of Atef, an attribute of Osiris.
In this role, he represents the patron deity of the Saqqara necropolis and other famous sites where the royal pyramids were built. Gradually, he formed a new deity with Osiris called Ptah Sokar Osiris. Statues representing the new deity in human form, half human, half falcon, or simply in his falcon form began to be placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West.
His tatenarian form is represented by a young, vigorous man wearing a crown with two high plumes surrounding the solar disc. He thus embodies the underground fire that rumbles and lifts the earth. As such, he was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths, but he was also feared because he was the one who caused earthquakes and tremors of the earth’s crust. In this form as well, Ptah is the master of ceremonies for Heb Sed, a ceremony that traditionally attests to the first thirty years of the pharaoh’s reign.
The god Ptah could correspond to the sun deities Ra or Aten during the Amarna period, where he embodied the divine essence with which the sun god was nourished in order to exist, that is, to be born, according to the mythological/theological texts of Memphite.
In the holiest place of his temple in Memphis, as well as on his great sacred boat, he led a procession to regularly visit the region during major festivals. Ptah was also symbolized by two birds with human heads adorned with solar discs, symbols of the souls of the god Re: the Ba. The two Ba are identified as the twin gods Shu and Tefnut and are associated with the djed pillar of Memphis.
Finally, Ptah is incarnated in the sacred bull, Apis. Often referred to as a herald of Re, the sacred animal is the link to the god Re of the New Kingdom. He was even worshipped in Memphis, probably in the heart of the great temple of Ptah, and after the animal’s death, he was buried with all the honors due to a living deity in the Serapeum of Saqqara.
3. Development of the cult of the god Ptah
As the god of craftsmen, the cult of the god Ptah spread rapidly throughout Egypt. With the great royal projects of the Old Kingdom, the high priests of Ptah were particularly sought after and worked in concert with the vizier, playing the role of chief architect and master craftsman, responsible for the decoration of the royal funerary complexes.
In the New Kingdom, the cult of the god developed in different ways, especially in Memphis, his homeland, but also in Thebes, where the workers of the royal tomb honored him as the patron of craftsmen. For this reason, the oratory of Ptah, where prayers were heard, was built near the site of Deir el-Medina, the village where the workers and craftsmen lived.
In Memphis, his role as intercessor with humans was particularly visible in the appearance of the enclosure that protected the god’s sanctuary. Large ears were carved into the walls, symbolizing his role as a god who hears prayers. With the Nineteenth Dynasty, his cult grew and he became one of the four great deities of the Ramesside Empire. He was venerated at Pi-Ramesses as master of ceremonies and coronations.
With the Third Intermediate Period, Ptah returned to the center of the monarchy where the coronation of the Pharaoh was once again held in his temple. The Ptolemies continued this tradition, and the high priests of Ptah became increasingly associated with the royal family, with some even marrying princesses of royal blood, clearly indicating the prominent role they played in the Ptolemaic court.
