Ptah, in the form of a mummified man (except for arms and face) standing on the symbol for Ma'at, holding a scepter or staff that bears the combined ankh-djed-was symbols
Ptah is an Egyptiancreator god who conceived the world and brought it into being through the creative power of speech. A hymn to Ptah dating to theTwenty-second Dynasty of Egypt says Ptah "crafted the world in the design of his heart," and theShabaka Stone, from theTwenty-Fifth Dynasty, says Ptah "gave life to all the gods and theirkas as well, through this heart and this tongue."[6]
Like many deities ofancient Egypt he takes many forms, through one of his particular aspects or throughsyncretism of ancient deities of the Memphite region. Sometimes represented as a dwarf, naked and deformed, his popularity would continue to grow during theLate Period. Frequently associated with the godBes, his worship then moved beyond the borders of Egypt and was exported throughout theEastern Mediterranean. Through dissemination by thePhoenicians, we find figures of Ptah inCarthage.
Ptah is generally represented in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion:
These three combined symbols indicate the three creative powers of the god: power (was), life (ankh) and stability (djed).
Stucco relief of Ptah holding a staff that bears the combined ankh and djed symbols,Late Period orPtolemaic Dynasty, 4th to 3rd century BC
From theOld Kingdom, he quickly absorbs the appearance ofSokar andTatenen, ancient deities of the Memphite region. His form of Sokar is found contained in its white shroud wearing theAtef crown, an attribute ofOsiris. In this capacity, he represents thepatron deity of thenecropolis ofSaqqara and other famous sites where the royal pyramids were built. Gradually he formed with Osiris a new deity called Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Statuettes representing the human form, the half-human, half-hawk form, or simply the pure falcon form of the new deity began to be systematically placed in tombs to accompany and protect the dead on their journey to the West.
His Tatenen form is represented by a young and vigorous man wearing a crown with two tall plumes that surround the solar disk. He thus embodies the underground fire that rumbles and raises the earth. As such, he was particularly revered by metalworkers and blacksmiths, but he was equally feared because it was he who caused earthquakes and tremors of the Earth's crust. In this form also, Ptah is themaster of ceremonies forHeb Sed, a ceremony traditionally attesting to the first thirty years of a pharaoh's reign.
The god Ptah could correspond with thesun deitiesRe orAten during theAmarna period, where he embodied the divine essence with which the sun god was fed to come into existence, that is to say to be born, according to the Memphite mythological/theological texts. In theholy of holies of histemple in Memphis, as well as in his great sacred boat, he drove in procession to regularly visit the region during major holidays. Ptah was also symbolized by two birds with human heads adorned with solar disks, symbols of the souls of the god Re: theBa. The two Ba are identified as the twin godsShu andTefnut and are associated with the djed pillar of Memphis.[7]
Finally, Ptah is embodied in the sacred bull,Apis. Frequently referred to as aherald of Re, the sacred animal is the link with the godRe from theNew Kingdom. He even received worship in Memphis, probably at the heart of the great temple of Ptah, and upon the death of the animal, was buried with all the honours due to a living deity in theSerapeum of Saqqara.
Scholars[who?] have also associated Ptah with theMandaean angelPtahil outside of Egypt, due to their somewhat similar features and closely related names.[8]
Thecult of the god Ptah quickly spread throughout Egypt. With the major royal projects of the Old Kingdom, thehigh priests of Ptah were particularly sought after and worked in concert with thevizier, filling the role of chief architects and master craftsmen, responsible for the decoration of the royal funerary complexes.
In the New Kingdom, the cult of the god would develop in different ways, especially in Memphis, his homeland, but also inThebes, where the workers of the royal tombs honoured him as patron of craftsmen. For this reason, the oratory ofPtah who listens to prayers was built near the site ofDeir el-Medina, the village where the workers and craftsmen were housed. At Memphis, the role of intercessor with humans was particularly visible in the appearance of theenclosure that protected the sanctuary of the god. Large ears were carved on the walls, symbolizing his role asgod who listens to prayers.
With theNineteenth Dynasty, his cult grew and he became one of the four great deities of the empire of Ramesses. He was worshipped atPi-Ramesses as master of ceremonies and coronations.
With theThird Intermediate Period, Ptah returned to the centre of the monarchy where the coronation of thepharaoh was held again in his temple. ThePtolemies continued this tradition, and the high priests of Ptah were then increasingly associated with the royal family, with some even marrying princesses of royal blood, clearly indicating the prominent role they played in the Ptolemaic court.
Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. This word enteredAncient Greek as Αἴγυπτος (Aiguptos), which enteredLatin asAegyptus, which developed intoMiddle FrenchEgypte and was finally borrowed into English first asEgipte inMiddle English and ultimately asEgypt.
Ptah is one of the deities mentioned inGiuseppe Verdi's operaAida. He is invoked in a chorus, "Possente Fthà" ("O Mighty Ptah"), in Act 1, scene 2; this chorus is reprised as "Immenso Fthà" ("Immense Ptah"), at the end of the opera as the protagonists Aida and Radamès die.
5011 Ptah is an asteroid named after the Egyptian god.
