Imhotep (-2600s), known as Imouthes in Greek, Imuthes in Latin, and ỉỉ-m-ḥtp in Egyptian, was the inventor of the Egyptian pyramid, father of Egyptian medicine, vizier (top civil administrator of Egypt), and sage, his sayings still current over a thousand years later. He later became demi-god, then god, of medicine, worshipped by Egyptians, Greeks and Nubians.
He was a real person, not just a figure of legend. We know that because a statue of King Djoser from the -2600s says that he was:
“The seal-bearer of the king of Lower Egypt, first under the king, administrator of the great estate/mansion, iry pat, great seer, Imhotep, controller of sculptors, maker of stone vessels (?).”
That statue stood near the Step Pyramid, implying that he directed the building of it.
In addition we have the remains of his massive cult: nearly 400 bronze statues (pictured), shrines, temples, thousands of mummified ibises, and clay models of diseased limbs and organs. They mainly date to Greek and Roman times (-500 to +500). The Greeks saw him as Asclepius, their god of medicine.
The Step Pyramid was the first pyramid. At 60 metres it was then the tallest stone structure in the world. It started out as a mastaba – a rectangular building with sloped sides that stood over underground burial chambers. None of that was new – kings, nobles, and high officials had been buried that way for hundreds of years. What was new was that it was built all of stone instead of mud brick. That allowed it to be added to bit by bit over time until it was so tall you could see it standing out in the desert from Memphis, the capital. Now every king wanted one. They became all the rage. Building pyramids out of huge stone blocks came later. So did giving them straight sides.
His book of sayings is lost, though it still seemed to be well known a thousand years after his death. “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die” might come from him.
The Edwin Smith Papyrus is a medical book from Ancient Egypt. Our copy was written about -1600, a thousand years after Imhotep. But it seems to be copied from a book from the -2500s, which in turn was compiled from yet older sources. One of them may have been Imhotep himself. In fact, one section of it stands out: in place of the usual magic spells and talk of demons, it deals with cases in a matter-of-fact way. Not unlike Hippocrates, who himself is said to have learned medicine from a temple of Imhotep.
His cult: He was a demi-god of medicine within about a hundred years or so of his death, a god outright 2,000 years later (by -500), worshipped for a thousand years. It was rare, though not unheard-of, for a commoner like him to become an Egyptian god. His temples taught medicine. And attracted pilgrims who slept in the courtyard hoping to be cured – or at least to receive a dream that would lead to a cure after being interpreted by the temple priests.
His tomb has not yet been found.
– Abagond, +2023.
See also:
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Abagond 
Thank you once again for sharing
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Imhotep is one of the great polymath geniuses of all time — who somehow never gets mentioned by those who laud the Western inventors. Unfortunately most Americans have never even heard of him.
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Solitaire what did his gentleman do that surpassed the greats like Da Vinci, Battista, or Leibniz?
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@ Cherry Boy
Everyone who has achieved greatness has built their achievements on the groundwork laid before their time. Imhotep made incredible leaps forward from what had already been accomplished during his era, and he created a foundation of new innovations and ideas for later geniuses to build upon.
Please note that I didn’t say Imhotep surpassed any of the other historically renowned polymaths — just that he belongs ranked among them. Would da Vinci have accomplished exactly what he did if he had been born in Egypt in -2600? Of course not. Would he have accomplished similar feats as Imhotep did? Quite possibly.
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