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Ptah
by
Stephanie Cass
Ptah
is the creator-god of Memphis, the city that served as
the capital of the ancient Egypt for most of its history
and which was known, during that history, as Het-ka-Ptah
or "House of the Soul of Ptah".
Ptah
is one of several Egyptian deities attributed with a myth
about fashioning creation. Ptah, as the god Ta-tenen (the
primordial mound), creates in the so-called "Memphite
Theology" the world, its inhabitants, and the kas
(or spirits) of the other gods.
A
patron of craftsmen, Ptah's name means "Creator". He is
depicted as a mummified man with
only his hands free to grasp a sceptre composed of the
symbols of life (ankh), power (was),
and stability (djed). He is also typically shown wearing
a skullcap and standing on the plinth-shaped hieroglyph
that is part of the name for Ma'at,
the goddess of fundamental truth.
Another
deity of Memphis, the funerary god Sokar, was also a patron
to craftsmen, and seems to have divided his labor with
Ptah: where Ptah was closely associated with stone-working,
Sokar was closely associated with
metal-working.
In
the Later Period, Ptah and Sokar
would become syncretized with Osiris
to form Ptah-Seker-Osiris,
a composite deity invoking the properties exhibited by
all three: creation, stasis, and the afterlife. In Heliopolis,
this triad would be known as Ptah-Sokar-Atum, but hailed
as Osiris.
Ptah's
wife is usually Sakhmet or,
less commonly, Bastet. Gods attributed
as his children are Nefertem,
Imhotep (a deified architect
of the Old Kingdom), and Maahes.
Apis,
the bull of Memphis, was associated with Ptah as his oracle.
From
the Memphite Theology:
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"Thus
it is said of Ptah: 'He who made all and created the
gods.' And he is Ta-tenen, who gave birth to the gods,
and from whom every thing came forth, foods, provisions,
divine offerings, all good things. Thus it is recognized
and understood that he is the mightiest of the gods.
Thus Ptah was satisfied after he had made all things
and all divine words."
The
name of Ptah in hieroglyphs: 
Source(s):
- George
Hart. A Dictionary of Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.
Routledge, 1986
- Miriam
Lichtheim (transl.). Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume
I: The Old and Middle Kingdom. University of California
Press, 1973
- Dmitri
Meeks and Christine Favard-Meeks. Daily Life of the Egyptian
Gods. Cornell University Press, 1996
- R.T.
Rundle-Clark. Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt. Thames
and Hudson, 1959
- Rev.
Tamara Siuda (AUS), Names of Netjer. 1999
The
Encyclopedia Mythica
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return to Egypt Index
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