In recent times the name of Imhotep has become famous through it’s association with the films, “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns”. These two pieces of fiction create an image of an evil man looking out for nothing more than his own needs.
The account we have of the real Imhotep, however, could not be any further removed from that story. Imhotep has the distinction of not only being the only mortal to ever be recognised on the foot-stone of a King’s statue but was also raised to the status of a god himself, some two thousand years after his death.
Imhotep’s claims to fame certainly do not end there though. As one of Djoser’s advisors, Imhotep was instrumental in the design of the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara between 2630 and 2611BC.
It is also widely believed that he may have been the first architect of columns too. Additionally, he was known as a philosopher and a poet, even being attributed with the famous phrase of “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die”.
There are many scholars who would displace Hippocrates as the Father of Medicine, in favour of Imhotep. The Edwin Smith papyrus, dated around 1700BC, is considered to refer to practices from 1000 years earlier, practices laid down by Imhotep himself. These included a list of ailments, many cures and biological and anatomical observations.
In addition to serving as the Pharoah’s advisor, Imhotep was a high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. Believed to be the son of Ptah, his mother was often thought to be Sekhmet, Ptah’s wife. His name has also been linked to Nut due to his healing powers and Hathor, the wife of Ra.
Imhotep’s tomb is one of many that has never been discovered. It is one of the prizes Egyptologists would love to be credited with finding and is most likely somewhere in the area of Saqqara.