Ptah or Peteh, was worshipped in Mennefer (Gr: Memphis) already in the Early Dynastic period and attested from the 1st Dynasty onwards. His high priest in Mennefer was titled 'wer-kherep-hemu' 'Greatest of the Controllers of Craftsmen', showing the importance and status that craftsmen held at the time. Originally he might however have been a local deity whose influence and importance developed as the city of Mennefer, the 'Ineb-hedj' or the 'White Walls', was founded in the Early Dynastic Period, assuming the place as center of political and administrative power.

Depiction

Ptah was depicted in mummiform, only his hands reaching forward, wearing a tight-fitting cap and carrying a combined was- and djed-pillar scepter. Often a tassel is shown in profile, hanging from the collar around his neck. He is first depicted in this way, scetchily, on a calcite bowl dated 1st Dynasty, from Taharkan, and in this way he would remain throughout history. Only in his connection to Wesir, a small disk flanked by two tall plumes (indicative of Wesir) is seen atop his head. His beard was from the Middle Kingdom depicted as straight, while it had originally been curved like that of other deities. Often he is standing on a dais which might suggest his connection to the primeval mound.

Ptah at Mennefer

It is at Mennefer where Ptah acquires most of his epiteths and titles. Here the temple of Ptah, the Hwt-ka-Ptah, 'Mansion of the spirit of Ptah'. was located. This name is probably the origin of the modern word 'Egypt' as Greeks in their time pronounced it 'Aiguptos', thereby meaning both the Nile and the whole land of Egypt.

In the Old Kingdom the priesthood here worked to establish him as the Creator God par excellence, in an effort to supercedeg the Heliopolitan Sun cult. The Memphite Theology was aimed at defining Ptah as the creative impulse behind the universe, certainly accepting the other creator gods but placing them as forms of Ptah.

In the Middle Kingdom he was 'Lord of Ankh-Tawy', which refers to the city as 'That Which Binds the Two Lands'. Mennefer was also located at the spot where Upper and Lower Egypt merged.

It is also at Mennefer that Ptah acquires several of his titles: Ptah Res-ineb-ef - 'Ptah Who Is South of His Wall', probably referring to the wall which enclosed the precinct of his temple, located at Mit-Rahina, though the earliest, Early Dynastic temple probably exists under the mound called Kom el-Fakhry.

Ptah Khery-bak-ef - 'Ptah Who Is under His Moringa Tree'. This refers to an early tree-god, which was assimilated with Ptah already at an early stage. The moringa tree still exists in Egypt and produces oil.

Ptah Nefer-her - 'Ptah Beautiful of Face'. A frequent title on temple inscriptions, which refers to Ptah as having flesh of gold. It also occurs in love songs where Ptah is asked to bring lovers together.

At Mennefer Ptah was also associated with Apis, the sacred fertility bull which acted the intermediary between him and mankind. The Apis was called his 'spokesman' and his 'Ba'; 'glorious soul'. Sometimes the Apis was referred to as the son of Ptah, which shows the ancient Egyptian way of widening the concept of 'son', 'brother, 'sister', to encompass a close relation and not only the regular sibling or family relationship.

His spouse at Mennefer was Sekhmet and with their 'son' Nefertem they formed the Memphite Triad. Another 'son' of Ptah was Imhotep, the deified architect of King Djoser in the 3rd Dynasty.

Ptah as Creator God; the Memphite Theology

During the Old Kingdom, the cosmogony of Heliopolis (Iunu) was the nationwide theological center. From dynasty 2 onwards and reaching its height during dynasty 5, the cult of Re-Atum was unthreatened by other religious centers. From this point the priesthood of Ptah at Mennefer tried to outrival the cosmogony of Heliopolis. They asserted him as preceding Re-Atum by identifying him with Nun who begot a daughter, Naunet, and with her Nun begot a son named Atum, which was the same as the Heliopolitan Atum. Ptah then became to be known as 'The Ancient One', uniting in his person both the masculine primeval deity Nun and the female counterpart Naunet. Ptah was thus sometimes called Ptah-Nun or Ptah-Naunet, combining his creative power and making it manifest in all aspects of the universe.

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, for according to Egyptian belief the name, the ren held the essence of a being or a thing. In this way Ptah was said tho have created all the gods. The theology of Ptah seems to suggest a synthesis of the mind and the material world, and maybe one can discern in this a shadow of the priesthood debating and arguing of how to formulate the principles behind this creation myth.

On the Shabaka Stone (c. 700 BC) he is altogether identified as eight primitive forms of God; the first is 'Ptah who is upon the great (i.e. primeval) place', meaning the original spirit. Then Ptah-Niu - the waters 'who was the father of Atum', next is Ptah-Naunet - 'the Primeval Mother who gave birth to Atum. Then 'Ptah the very great one who is the heart and tongue of the Divine Compay'. Unfortunately several of the names have been lost to us, except Nefertum, the lotus.

Ptah - Patron of Craftsmanship

It is unclear how the aspect of Ptah as patron god of craftsmanship originated, though it appears very early on and continues throughout his history. It might come from the fact that there are limestone quarries in the vicinity of MenNefer, which provided material needed for the necropolii of the city. In the Old Kingdom the high priest of Ptah had the title wer-kherep hemut; 'great leader of the craftsmen' whose number increased vastly during the period. Another possibility close at hand lies in the function of Ptah as the 'sculptor' of mankind and the creator of all crafts and arts. He was further the moulder of royalty; the body of Ramesses II was made out of electrum with limbs of copper and iron. While a universal creator god who brought the world into being by his utterance, Ptah was also the practical moulder of shapes and materia.

Ptah and dwarfes

There was an association with Ptah and the dwarfes which figure as jewellers in workshop scenes from mastaba tombs in the Old Kingdom. In the Late Period it was probably Ptah who was represented as a big-bellied dwarf on 'cippi' (magical stelae) and as figurines, going back to the association with the craftsman-dwarfes. Greeks and Romans saw him as Hephaistos and Vulcan.

The Hearer of Prayers

For the people he was 'the sculptor of the earth', with a likeness to Khnum who fashioned mankind on his potter´s wheel but he never gained a wide and unchallenged popularity, perhaps on account of his intellectual and not so colorful mythology. But he was a god who heard the prayers of the people. Many stelae bearing carved ears and dedicated to Ptah as mesedjer-sedjem ('the ear which hears') haave been found around his temple at Mennefer and at other places in Egypt. At both Deir el-Medina and the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, Ptah is called upon as 'the ear which hears' as well as the god of craftsmen.

Ptah-Tatenen, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris

In the Coffin Texts Ptah was associated with the early earth god of Mennefer, Ta-tenen, 'The Land Which Has Become Distinguishable', meaning distinguishable from the primeval waters, i.e. the Primeval Mound.

In the Late Period he was merged with the ancient Memphitian mortuary deity Sokar and through him also with Osiris, thus becoming a composite god; Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.

The Power of the Word

The ancient Egyptians believed that the name of something held the essence of that being or thing. Instead of as in the Heliopolitan creation myth, where Atum creates the Ennead with his semen and his fingers, Ptah creates with his word; the thought originates in his heart and when it is formed and spoken by his tongue, the authority of his utterance cause all things come into being. The Ennead of Ptah is his teeth and lips, when he speaks, his essence transmits and causes gods and mankind to exist. The theology of Ptah suggests a synthesis of the mind and the material world, a well thought out theology, probably created in order to make Ptah take precedence over rivalling centres of worship, but intellectually advanced and fascinating even today.

Main center of worship:  

at Mennefer/Memphis, 1 st Nome, Lower Egypt

Other places:

The Serapeum at Saqqara, 1st Nome, Lower Egypt

Sources:
A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses - George Hart
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson.

See also: Ptah and the Memphite Theology