deitycreationthe craftsman-godthe patron of Memphisthe sculptor of the world
The creator-god of Memphis, the divine craftsman who 'fashioned' the world in his heart and mouth; in the Memphite tradition he is the self-created first god.
Statue of Ptah · Unknown · 2009 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0
The account
Who they are
Ptah is the creator-god of Memphis, the patron of craftsmen and sculptors [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. In the Memphite creation tradition (preserved in the 'Memphite Theology' inscribed on a statue of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris), Ptah is the self-created first god who created the world 'in his heart and with his mouth' — that is, by thought (the heart) and by speech (the mouth), naming things into existence [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. This is a distinct creation tradition from the Heliopolitan (Atum-Ra) and the Hermopolitan (Ogdoad) accounts [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. Ptah is the divine craftsman: he is the patron of sculptors, metalworkers, and all makers, and the temple workshops at Memphis were centers of artistic production [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. Ptah was later fused with Sokar (aMemphite god of the necropolis) and with Osiris to become 'Ptah-Sokar-Osiris' [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Worth knowing
Creator-god of Memphis [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Created the world 'in his heart and mouth' (Memphite Theology) [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Patron of craftsmen and sculptors [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Fused with Sokar and Osiris to become Ptah-Sokar-Osiris [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Uncertainties & variants
The Memphite Theology is a late (Saite period) text that 'reinterprets' Ptah as the supreme creator; earlier sources do not give Ptah this role [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Relationships (0)
Connections
No typed relationships recorded for this entity.
Local graph
Their corner of the divine world
Viewhierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusPtahEgyptian
zoom 2.96× · close
parentage
marriage ♥
far = primordials · medium = all · close = detail — scroll/pan, click a deity to focus
In the Memphite tradition (preserved in the 'Memphite Theology'), Ptah is the self-created first god. He created the world 'in his heart and with his mouth' — by thought (the heart) and by speech (the mouth), naming things into existence [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic. This is a distinct creation account from the Heliopolitan and Hermopolitan traditions [S4]S4 · Hornung, 'The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead' / 'Nile Religion' (academic)modern (translation & scholarship)academic.
Statue of Ptah · Unknown · 2009 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0Statue of Ptah · 2009Granodiorite statue of Ptah · Unknown · undated · Museo Egizio, Turin · CC0Granodiorite statue of Ptah · undatedStatue of Ptah · Unknown · undated · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0Statue of Ptah · undated
