Museum Pieces - Statuette of Imhotep

Statuette of Imhotep

Category: Sculpture in the round, figurines / statuettes, human / gods and goddesses figurines
Date: Ancient Egyptian period, Late Period (664-332 BCE)
Provenance: Upper Egypt, Giza, Saqqara
Material(s): Non-organic material, alloy, bronze
Height: 14.5 cm
Registration Number(s): BAAM Serial 0591, CG 38873

Description

A bronze statue of Imhotep sitting with his hands resting on his knees holding a papyrus roll.  This Late Period statue was found in Saqqara.



Imhotep

Imhotep was the famous architect and vizier of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty (Old Kingdom) who built the Saqqara complex and the step pyramid. Manetho ascribes to him the innovation of building in dressed stone. His name was found inscribed on a statue belonging to King Djoser in the Saqqara step-pyramid complex bearing his titles. He was 'the builder, sculptor and maker of stone vases'; the 'royal chancellor, first under the king, ruler of the great mansion, member of the Pat, greatest of seers, and overseer of masons and painters'.

During the New Kingdom, new titles were added to him, such as 'High Priest', the 'Sage', 'Chief Scribe' and 'Son of the god Ptah.

Imhotep, while honoured during his lifetime, was deified two thousand years after his death in the Late (Saite) Period and was considered the god of wisdom, writing and medicine. He was linked to the gods Ptah and Thoth. 

The Greeks associated him with their god of medicine, Asklepius.  His cult centre at Saqqara (the Asklepion) became a pilgrimage centre for those seeking healing.  He was also worshipped at temples of Deir El Medina, Karnak, Deir El Bahari and Philae.

It is believed that his tomb lies in the northern part of the Saqqara necropolis, however, it has not been found to date.

Bibliography

Corteggiani, Jean Pierre. L'Egypte des Pharaons au Musée du Caire. Paris: Hachette, Les Livres de France, 1986.
"Imhotep". In Dictionary of Egyptian civilization. By Posener, Georges, Serge Sauneron and Jean Yoyotte. Translated from the French by Alix Macfarlane. London: Methuen, 1962.

Source: http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/Detail.aspx?collection=38&a=591&lang=en#

Photocredit: BA Antiquities Museum/C. Gerigk

Dynasties Of Egypt Part II: Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley (the others being Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom).

The term Old Kingdom, coined during the nineteenth century, is somewhat arbitrary. Egyptians at that time would have seen no distinction between the Old Kingdom and the preceding Early Dynastic Period, since the last Early Dynastic king was related by blood to the first two kings of the Old Kingdom, and the Early Dynastic royal residence at Ineb-Hedj (translated as "The White Walls" for its majestic fortifications) remained unchanged except for the name. During the Old Kingdom, the capital was renamed Memphis. 

The basic justification for a separation between the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom is the revolutionary change in architecture accompanied and the effects that large-scale building projects had on Egyptian society and economy..

The Old Kingdom spanned the period from the Third Dynasty to the Sixth Dynasty (2,686 BC – 2,134 BC). Many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration that had been firmly established at Memphis. Thereafter, the Old Kingdom was followed by a period of disunity and relative cultural decline (a "dark period that spanned the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and part of the Eleventh Dynasties) referred to by Egyptologists as the First Intermediate Period.

Step Pyramid of Djoser: Egypt's First Pyramid

by Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor

Constructed at Saqqara about 4,700 years ago, the Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first pyramid the Egyptians built.

Djoser, sometimes spelled Zoser (though he was actually called Netjerykhet), was a king of Egypt’s third dynasty. The planning of the pyramid has been attributed to Imhotep, a vizier who would later be deified for his accomplishments.

It started off as a mastaba tomb — a flat-roofed structure with sloping sides — and, through a series of expansions, evolved into a 197-foot-high (60 meters) pyramid, with six layers, one built on top of the other. The pyramid was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters) of stone and clay. The tunnels beneath the pyramid form a labyrinth about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) long.

The complex

The pyramid is at the center of a complex 37 acres (15 hectares) in size. This complex is surrounded by a recessed limestone wall that contains 13 fake doorways as well as the real colonnade entrance on the southeast side.

A temple lies on the north side of the pyramid along with a statue of the king. The statue is surrounded by a small stone structure known as a “serdab,” his eyes peeking out through a hole. To the south of the pyramid lies a great court, with an altar and stones identified as boundary markers.