Monday 27 February 2017

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 2, PTAH

“The kingdom of heaven is within you; and whosoever shall know himself shall find it” - Ancient Egyptian Proverb 

In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (Egyptian: ptḥ, probably vocalized as Pitaḥ in ancient Egyptian) is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the spouse of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum. He was also regarded as the father of the sage Imhotep.

Ptah is the Creator god par excellence: He is considered the demiurge who existed before all other things, and by his willfulness, thought the world. It was first conceived by Thought, and realised by the Word: Ptah conceives the world by the thought of his heart and gives life through the magic of his Word. That which Ptah commanded was created, with which the constituents of nature, fauna, and flora, are contained. He also plays a role in the preservation of the world and the permanence of the royal function.

In the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, the Nubian pharaoh Shabaka would transcribe on a stela known as the Shabaka Stone, an old theological document found in the archives of the library of the temple of the god at Memphis. This document has been known as the Memphite Theology, and shows the god Ptah, the god responsible for the creation of the universe by thought and by the word.

Ptah is the patron of craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters, shipbuilders, and sculpture. From the Middle Kingdom onwards, he was one of five major Egyptian gods with Ra, Isis, Osiris and Amun. He wears many epithets that describe his role in ancient Egyptian religion and its importance in society at the time:
Ptah of the beautiful face
Ptah lord of truth
Ptah master of justice
Ptah who listens to prayers
Ptah master of ceremonies
Ptah lord of eternity.


Ptah is generally represented in the guise of a man with green or dark skin, wrapped in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: The Was sceptre The sign of life, Ankh and The Djed pillar. These three combined symbols indicate the three creative powers of the god: Power (was), life (ankh) and stability (djed).

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