THE god OF HEALING
Considered one of the earliest great talents
of history, Imhotep has been called the Leonardo da Vinci of the ancient world.
One of his many accomplishments was designing and building the Zoser pyramid in
3000 B.C. The only scale model in the United States of his pyramid is on
display in the Egyptian Museum.
Imhotep was also known as a great astronomer,
architect, and medical doctor. As author of several books, he wrote extensively
on all these subjects. Imhotep introduced –magnificent stone architecture,
which suddenly appeared on the plateau at Sakkara, replacing the wood and brick
buildings of earlier times.
Imhotep was celebrated in his own lifetime.
After his death he was venerated until it was said that he was the son of the
god Ptah.
In the New Kingdom he was
worshipped as the god of healing and medicine, as his tremendous power for
healing the sick was well known.
His chapel at Sakkara becomes a sanitarium
to which cripples from all over Egypt flocked. Temples dedicated to Imhotep
were built at Deir el-Bahir, Deir el-Madina, and on the island of Ptolemy V
built a chapel dedicated to him.
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