Ptah 250

Origin and Symbolism

Ptah is the patron of craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters,
shipbuilders, and sculpture. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, he
was one of five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Isis, Osiris and Amun.
He wears many epithets that describe his role in Egyptian mythology
and its importance in society at the time:
• Ptah the beautiful face
• Ptah lord of truth
• Ptah master of justice
• Ptah who listens to prayers
• Ptah master of ceremonies
• Ptah lord of eternity
Ptah is the creator god par excellence: He is considered the demiurge
who existed before all things, and by his willingness, thought the
world. It was first conceived by Thought, and realized by the Word:
Ptah conceives the world by the thought of his heart and gives life Statue of Ptah - Egyptian Museum of Turin.
through the magic of his Word. That which Ptah commanded was
created, with which the constituents of nature, fauna, and flora, are contained. 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 would transcribe on a stela known as the Shabaka Stone,
an old theological document found in the archives of the library of the temple of the god at Memphis. This document
has been known as the Memphite Theology, and shows the god Ptah, the god responsible for the creation of the
universe by thought and by the Word.

Representations and hypostases

Like many deities of ancient Egypt he takes many forms, through one of his particular aspects or through syncretism
of ancient deities of the Memphite region. He is sometimes represented as a dwarf, naked and deformed, whose
popularity would continue to grow during the Late Period. Frequently associated with the god Bes, his worship then
exceeded the borders of the country and was exported throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Thanks to the
Phoenicians, we find figures of Ptah in Carthage.
Ptah is generally represented in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin,
wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of Egyptian mythology:
• The Was sceptre
• The sign of life, Ankh
• The Djed pillar
These three combined symbols indicate the three creative powers of the god: power (was), life (ankh) and stability
(djed).
Ptah 251

From the Old Kingdom, he quickly absorbs the appearance of Sokar

and Tatenen, ancient deities of the Memphite region. His form of Sokar
is found contained in its white shroud wearing the Atef crown, an
attribute of Osiris. In this capacity, he represents the god of the
necropolis of Saqqara and other famous sites where the royal pyramids
were built. Gradually he formed with Osiris a new deity called
Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statuettes representing the human form,
half-human, half-hawk, or simply in its falcon form will be
systematically placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on
their journey to the West.

His Tatenen form is represented by a young and vigorous man wearing

a crown with two tall plumes that surround the solar disk. He thus
embodies the underground fire that rumbles and raises the earth. As
such, he was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths, but
he was equally feared because it was him who caused earthquakes and
tremors of the earth's crust. In this form also, Ptah is the master of
Stucco relief of Ptah with staff and ankh and djed.
ceremonies for Heb Sed, a ceremony traditionally attesting to the first
Late Period or Ptolemaic Dynasty, 4th to 3rd thirty years of the Pharaoh's reign.
century BC.
The god Ptah could be opposite the sun god Re, or Aten during the
Amarna period, where he embodied the divine essence with which the
sun god was fed to come into existence, that is to say to be born, according to the Memphite mythological texts. In
the holy of holies of his temple in Memphis, as well as in his great sacred boat, he drove in procession to regularly
visit the region during major holidays. Ptah was also symbolized by two birds with human heads adorned with solar
disks, symbols of the souls of the god Re: the Ba. The two Ba are also identified as the twin gods Shu and Tefnut and
are associated with the djed pillar of Memphis.[3]

Finally, Ptah is embodied in the sacred bull, Apis. Frequently referred to as a herald of Re, the sacred animal is the
link with the god Re from the New Kingdom. He even received worship in Memphis, probably at the heart of the
great temple of Ptah, and its death was buried with all the honours due to a living god in the Serapeum of Saqqara.
Ptah was assimilated by the Greeks to the god Hephaistos and then by the Romans to Vulcan.

Development of the Cult

As god of craftsmen, the cult of the god Ptah quickly spread
throughout Egypt. With the major royal projects of the Old Kingdom,
the High Priests of Ptah were particularly sought after and worked in
concert with the Vizier, somehow filling the role of chief architect and
master craftsmen, responsible for the decoration of the royal funerary
complexes.

In the New Kingdom, the cult of the god would develop in different
ways, especially in Memphis, his homeland, but also in Thebes, where
the workers of the royal tomb honoured him for his quality as patron of Colossal statue of the god Ptah-Tatenen holding
craftsmen. It is for this reason that the oratory of Ptah who listens to hands with Ramses II found at Memphis - Ny
prayers was built near the site of Deir el-Medina, the village where the Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

workers and crafstmen were confined. At Memphis, the role of

Ptah 252

intercessor with men was particularly visible in the appearance of the enclosure that protected the sanctuary of the
god. Large ears were carved on the walls and symbolized his role as god who listens to men.
With the Nineteenth Dynasty, his cult grew and he became one of the four great gods of the empire of Ramses. He
was worshipped at Pi-Ramesses as master of ceremonies and coronations.
With the Third Intermediate Period, Ptah returned to the centre of the monarchy where the coronation of the Pharaoh
was held again in his temple. The Ptolemies continued this tradition and the high priests of Ptah were then
increasingly associated with the royal family. Some of whom even married princesses of blood, clearly indicating the
prominent role they played in the Ptolemaic court.

Main places of worship

Temple dedicated to Location

Ptah Pi-Ramses

Ptah Memphis

Ptah who listens to prayers Memphis

Ptah whos is south of his Wall Memphis

Ptah-Sokar Abydos

Ptah-Sokar Kom el-Hettan (Thebes)

Ptah who listens to prayers Deir el-Medina (Thebes)

Ptah Karnak (Thebes)

Ptah Gerf Hussein (Nubia)

Ptah lord of truth Abu Simbel (Nubia)

Photos

Profile of the god Ptah - Relief of Colossal triad Pectoral of Tutankhamun Statuette of
the small temple of Hathor at representing representing the young king Ptah-Sokar-Osiris
Memphis Ptah-Ramses between the goddess Sekhmet – The Louvre
II-Sekhmet – and Ptah – Egyptian Museum of
Gardens of the Cairo
Egyptian Museum
of Cairo
Ptah 253

Votive stele dedicated to the god

Ptah in the temple of Deir
el-Medina. New Kingdom, XX
Dynasty, c. 1150 B.C.

Legacy
The English name Egypt derives from an ancient Egyptian name for Memphis, Hikuptah, which means "Home of the
Soul of Ptah". This entered Ancient Greek as Αιγυπτος (Aiguptos), which entered Latin as Ægyptus, which
developed into English as Egypt.

Literature
• Battiscombe G. Gunn, Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke'Gemni: The Oldest Books in the World.
1998 Google books [4]
• Benedikt Rothöhler, Neue Gedanken zum Denkmal memphitischer Theologie. Heidelberg, 2006
[Link]/archiv/7030 [5]
• Alain-Pierre Zivie, Memphis et ses nécropoles au Nouvel Empire. Éditions du CNRS, 1988

References
[1] "Ptah" in the American Heritage Dictionary (http:/ / education. yahoo. com/ reference/ dictionary/ entry/ Ptah)
[2] Ancient Egyptian, a linguistic introduction, pg 34 (http:/ / books. google. ca/ books?id=kW8Mzji0XRgC& printsec=frontcover& dq=ancient+
egyptian+ loprieno& hl=en& sa=X& ei=1bTFT62UFNHM6QG53djYBg& ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage& q=ptah& f=false)
[3] Cf. J. Berlandini, Contribution à l'étude du pilier-djed memphite, p.23-33 et pl. 1 A & pl. 2 A
[4] http:/ / books. google. ca/ books?id=SyO6bc4GNuAC& printsec=frontcover& dq=ptah+ egypt& source=bl& ots=kkPXWD_Oa4&
sig=wukBnnyL1F6aBfdukk0kMNK4dfI& hl=en& sa=X& ei=6xM5UO7hM-n6iwL61oD4AQ& ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&
q=ptah%20egypt& f=false
[5] http:/ / www. ub. uni-heidelberg. de/ archiv/ 7030
Qebehsenuef 254

Qebehsenuef

Canopic jar Depicting Qebehsenuef

Qebehsenef
in hieroglyphs

Qebehsenuef (His name is variously transliterated as Kebehsennuf, Kebechsenef, Qebshenuf, Qebehsenuf or

Kabexnuf, meaning 'He who refreshes his brothers') was one of the sons of Horus in Egyptian mythology, the god of
protection and of the West.[1] In the preparation of mummies, his canopic jar was used for the intestines. He is seen
as a mummy with a falcon head. He was said to be protected by the goddess Serket.
[Qebhsennuf saith:] "I am thy son, O Osiris Ani, triumphant. I have come to protect thee. I have collected thy
bones, and I have gathered together thy members. I have brought thy heart and I have placed it upon its
throne within thy body. I have made thy house to flourish after thee, O thou who livest for ever."[2]
Together with Maa-atef-f, Kheri-beq-f, and Horus-Khenti-maa, the four sons of Horus (the other three were Imset,
Hapi and Duamutef) were known as the Seven Shining Ones, protectors of the body of Osiris.

References
[1] (http:/ / www. sacred-texts. com/ egy/ ebod/ ebod39. htm) Budge, E. Wallis. The Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani. (1895)
[2] Plates XXXIII and XXXIV (http:/ / www. sacred-texts. com/ egy/ ebod/ ebod39. htm)
Qebui 255

Qebui
Qebui is the Egyptian god of the North Wind. He is a male and in art, Qebui appears as a man with four ram heads,
or a winged, four-headed ram. He is also associated with the lands beyond the third cataract.

Qetesh
QeteshWikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Pronunciation is a
goddess adopted into Egyptian mythology from the
Canaanite religion, popular during the New Kingdom.
She was a fertility goddess of sacred ecstasy and sexual
pleasure.[1]
The name was probably vocalized by Egyptians as
*Qātiša from the Semitic root Q-D-Š meaning 'holy'.
Her city of worship was naturally Qadesh.

Qetesh on the Triple Goddess Stone.