Ptah

Ptah, the deity of Memphis, also called 'South of His Wall', lent his name to the temple: 'Hewet-ka-Ptah' (Mansion of the spirit of Ptah). Even though not much of it is left to be seen today, it was one of the largest temple complexes in ancient Egypt at the time of Ramesses II. Here was the seat of an intellectual tradition whose priesthood devised a cosmogony trying to outrival the Heliopolitan one and place Ptah as the originator of all life.

Relief of Ptah from his temple at Karnak

Ptah as creator god was mentioned as early as in the Old Kingdom, when he was seen as a supreme artisan. His high priest at Memphis was then called wer kherep hemw, 'Greatest of the Controllers of Craftsmen'. In the Coffin Texts Ptah is described as the one who creates other gods, makes the vegetation ripen and the sun shine. In the Ramesside period, Ptah merges with Ta-tenen, which means 'the land which has become distingushable' (from the primeval waters). This is where Ptah comes into view as Creator God.

Let it be said at once that ther is much more concerning Ptah than is the intention of this short article to cover.

According to the Memphite theology Ptah created the universe using his heart and his tongue. For the ancient Egyptians the heart was the seat of thought, not the brain. By uttering the name of all things he brought them into being, as according to Egyptian belief, in the name lay inherent the essence of a being or a thing. In this way he created the other gods. The theology of Ptah seems to suggest a synthesis of the mind and the material world, as the action of the heart and the tongue dictates the movement of the bodily limbs.

Therefore, according to the priesthood at Memphis, Ptah created even Atum at Heliopolis, and therefore he was superior to the Ennead and to the creation myth of Heliopolis. The Ennead was said to be the 'teeth and lips' of the mouth of Ptah, and so by uttering something, he brought it into being. Whatever the eyes see, the ears hears and the nose breathes, goes right into his heart, where it is pondered, and when it is uttered by the mouth, it comes into being. And when all the gods are created, Ptah goes on to create cities, sanctuaries, temples, offerings etc.

The Memphite Theology and the Shabaka Stone

The Memphite Theology was probably composed in the late New Kingdom, after much debate and discussion among the priesthood of Memphis. It is found inscribed on the Shabaka Stone, from the 25th Dynasty, which supposedly is a copy of an Old Kingdom text. The 'copy' was ordered by King Shabaka (712-698 B.C), who is said to have found during an inspection of the temple of Ptah that their most sacred scroll, which held the description of the ascension of Horus to the throne of Egypt, was threatened to be eaten by worms. Therefore the king ordered the undamaged remains of it to be inscribed on a stone of black granite. The stone is now in the British Museum, but before it was handed over there, it had been used as a millstone. Recent studies have placed the origin of the inscriptions, not in the Old Kingdom, as was earlier thought, but more likely a date in the 13th century B.C.

Below is an excerpt of the Memphite Theology, from Mirjam Lichtheim´s book 'Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol I'. The translation is made by J.A. Wilson in ANET, pp 4-6: (the numbers refer to the lines on the stone)