Imhotep, the vizier and physician of King Zoser and afterwards the Egyptain god of medicine / by Jamieson B. Hurry.

  • Hurry, Jamieson B. (Jamieson Boyd), 1857-1930.
Date:
1926
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Imhotep, the vizier and physician of King Zoser and afterwards the Egyptain god of medicine / by Jamieson B. Hurry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    they belong to the period in which Imhotep was still regarded as a demigod and had not yet attained to the full status of deity.1 These bronze figures form a striking contrast with his pictures dating from the Graeco-Roman period, when the deified man wears the costume and beard of a full deity, and holds the symbol of life in his hand. E. MURAL FIGURES OF IMHOTEP AS DEITY On the walls of various Egyptian and Nubian temples may be seen mural representations of the deity Imhotep carrying the uas sceptre and the ankh. In some cases the god is in a standing, in other cases in a sitting, posture. All these mural figures belong to the later Dynasties and correspond to the period of deification referred to above. The figures are usually accompanied by inscriptions addressed to Imhotep. For instance, the inscription attached to the picture in the temple of Kasr el-Agouz referred to below reads thus : ‘ Son of Ptah, beneficent god, begotten by the god of the South Wall,2 giver of life, who bestows gifts on those he loves, who listens [? to those who call upon him], who provides remedies for all diseases.’ 3 I. Thebes (a) Karnak. In the temple of Ptah and Hathor at Karnak, Imhotep with Ptah and his consort Hathor are seen sculptured on the walls and worshipped by King Tuthmosis III. 1 A. Erman, Aegypten, ii, p. 477 ; Sethe, bnhotep, p. 4. 2 i. e. Ptah. 3 D. Mallet, Le Kasr El-Agouz, 1909, p. 38.