Imhotep

Traditions from long after Imhotep's death treated him as a great author of wisdom texts and especially as a physician. No extant text from his lifetime mentions these capacities, and none mention his name in the first 1,200 years following his death. The Westcar Papyrus of the Hyksos period, written in classical Middle Egyptian (likely around the 13th Dynasty), contains a story about an official performing a miracle for Djoser, possibly Imhotep. However, this section is badly damaged and no mention of this character's name survived.

Apart from the two short contemporary inscriptions that establish him as chancellor to the Pharaoh, the first surviving text to name Imhotep dates to the time of Amenhotep III (c. 1391–1353 BC). It is addressed to the owner of a tomb and reads:

The wab-priest may give offerings to your ka. The wab-priests may stretch to you their arms with libations on the soil, as it is done for Imhotep with the remains of the water bowl.

— Wildung (1977)

It appears that this libation to Imhotep was done regularly, as they are attested on papyri associated with statues of Imhotep until the Late Period (c. 664–332 BC). Wildung (1977) explains the origin of this cult as a slow evolution of intellectuals' memory of Imhotep, from his death onward. Gardiner finds the cult of Imhotep during the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1077 BC) sufficiently distinct from the usual offerings made to other commoners that the epithet "demigod" is likely justified to describe his veneration.

The first references to the healing abilities of Imhotep occur from the Thirtieth Dynasty (c. 380–343 BC) onward, some 2,200 years after his death.

Imhotep is among fewer than a dozen non-royal Egyptians who were deified after their deaths. The center of his cult was in Memphis. The location of his tomb remains unknown, despite efforts to find it.

Historicity

Imhotep's historicity is confirmed by two contemporary inscriptions made during his lifetime on the base or pedestal of one of Djoser's statues (Cairo JE 49889) and also by a graffito on the enclosure wall surrounding Sekhemkhet's unfinished step pyramid. The latter inscription suggests that Imhotep outlived Djoser by a few years and went on to serve in the construction of King Sekhemkhet's pyramid, which was abandoned due to this ruler's brief reign.

Imhotep held the ambiguous title bity sensen or bity senwy, unique in ancient Egyptian history. This literally translates as "the King of Lower Egypt, the two brothers", and could be interpreted to mean that Imhotep might have been twin brother of Pharaoh, which would explain his high position; with no known individuals with similar titles, however, interpretation remains highly speculative. If not a blood relative, he might have been the King's confidant or childhood friend.

Architecture and engineering

Imhotep was one of the chief officials of the Pharaoh Djoser. Concurring with much later legends, Egyptologists credit him with the design and construction of the Pyramid of Djoser, a step pyramid at Saqqara built during the 3rd Dynasty. He may also have been responsible for the first known use of stone columns to support a building. Despite these later attestations, the pharaonic Egyptians themselves never credited Imhotep as the designer of the stepped pyramid, nor with the invention of stone architecture.