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Imhotep 

(fl. 27th century B.C.E.) 

Statue of Imhotep at Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
Author: Louvre Museum.

His name in ancient egyptian language was
"ii m Htp" and it means ''He who comes in peace". He was a priest-physician, vizier, and designer of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. Imhotep was an official of the Third Dynasty who served four kings of Egypt, but he was best known as the
vizier and high priest of PTAH in the reign of DJOSER (2630–2611 B.C.E.). He designed and supervised the building of the STEP PYRAMID at SAQQARA as Djoser’s mortuary complex. 

 He was a commoner by birth, born to Kaneferu and Ankh-Kherdu. Both parents are listed in an inscription found at WADI HAMMAMAT. Rising through the ranks in the court and in the temple,
Imhotep became treasurer of Lower Egypt, “the First After the King” of Upper Egypt, the administrator of the Great Palace, the high priest of PTAH (called “the Son of Ptah”), the ruler’s chief architect, and “the wise counselor” as listed in the TURIN CANON. He was a renowned poet and priest-physician, equated with Asclepios by the Greeks.

 The greatest achievement of Imhotep, the one that stands as a living monument to his genius and his faith in eternity, was the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. He built the complex as a mortuary shrine for Djoser, but it became a stage and an architectural model for the spiritual ideals of the Egyptian people. The Step Pyramid was not just a single pyramidal tomb but a collection of temples, chapels, pavilions, corridors, storerooms, and halls. Fluted columns engaged, or attached to, the limestone walls or emerged from the stone walls according to his plan. 
Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt.
Author: Davide Broad, Wikipedia.

 Yet he made the walls of the complex conform to those of the palace of Djoser, according to ancient styles of architecture, thus preserving a link to the past. Imhotep’s didactic texts were well known in later times, as were his medical writings. The Greeks honored him, and during the Roman Period the emperors Tiberius and Claudius inscribed their praises of Imhotep on the walls of Egyptian temples. He was deified with AMENHOTEP, SON OF HAPU, a rare occurrence in Egypt, as commoners were normally not eligible for such honors. Shrines and clinics were erected throughout the Nile Valley in his memory, and he was worshiped as far south as KALABSHA in NUBIA. A temple of his cult was erected in PHILAE island. Imhotep reportedly lived to the end of the reign of HUNI (2599–2575 B.C.E.). He was buried in Saqqara, but his tomb has not been identified.
Sources:
- Margret R. Bunson, Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, p. 178.

Webography:
- https://www.bibalex.org/learnhieroglyphs/Dictionary/PhoneticSearch_Ar.aspx?phoneticSequence=ii%20m%20Htp&position=any

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