Ptah

Ptah

In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelled Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelt Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land. The importance Ptah was given in history can readily be understood since the name Egypt derives from Classical Greek Aigyptos which in turn derives from the native name of a temple at Memphis (transcribed as Ḥwt-k3-Ptḥ or Hut-ka-Ptah "temple of the soul of Ptah"). Mythologically-speaking, Ptah was most renowned for his association with the creation of the cosmos.

In Memphis, Ptah was worshipped in his own right, and was seen as Atum's father, or rather, the father of Nefertum, the younger form of Atum. When the beliefs about the Ennead and Ogdoad were later merged, and Atum was identified as Ra (Atum-Ra), himself seen as Horus (Ra-Herakhty), this led to Ptah being said to be married to Sekhmet, at the time considered the earlier form of Hathor, Horus', thus Atum's, mother.

Etymology

Ptah in hieroglyphs

Ptah's original name in Ancient Egyptian is reconstructed to have been pronounced as *Pitáḥ based on the occurrence of his name in hieroglyphics, ptḥ, surviving into Coptic as Ptah, just as it is now written in English. The name was also borrowed early on into Greek as Φθα Phtha. The meaning of his name, which can be translated as "the opener," is somewhat ambiguous, though it may be related to the "opening of the mouth" ritual that was often credited to him.

Ptah in an Egyptian Context

As an Egyptian deity, Ptah belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system developed in the Nile river basin from earliest prehistory to 525 B.C.E. Indeed, it was during this relatively late period in Egyptian cultural development, a time when they first felt their beliefs threatened by foreigners, that many of their myths, legends and religious beliefs were first recorded. The cults within this framework, whose beliefs comprise the myths we have before us, were generally fairly localized phenomena, with different deities having the place of honor in different communities. Despite this apparently unlimited diversity, however, the gods (unlike those in many other pantheons) were relatively ill-defined. As Frankfort notes, “the Egyptian gods are imperfect as individuals. If we compare two of them … we find, not two personages, but two sets of functions and emblems. … The hymns and prayers addressed to these gods differ only in the epithets and attributes used. There is no hint that the hymns were addressed to individuals differing in character.” One reason for this was the undeniable fact that the Egyptian gods were seen as utterly immanental—they represented (and were continuous with) particular, discrete elements of the natural world. Thus, those who did develop characters and mythologies were generally quite portable, as they could retain their discrete forms without interfering with the various cults already in practice elsewhere. Also, this flexibility was what permitted the development of multipartite cults (i.e. the cult of Amun-Re, which unified the domains of Amun and Re), as the spheres of influence of these various deities were often complimentary.

The worldview engendered by ancient Egyptian religion was uniquely appropriate to (and defined by) the geographical and calendrical realities of its believer’s lives. Unlike the beliefs of the Hebrews, Mesopotamians and others within their cultural sphere, the Egyptians viewed both history and cosmology as being well ordered, cyclical and dependable. As a result, all changes were interpreted as either inconsequential deviations from the cosmic plan or cyclical transformations required by it. The major result of this perspective, in terms of the religious imagination, was to reduce the relevance of the present, as the entirety of history (when conceived of cyclically) was ultimately defined during the creation of the cosmos. The only other aporia in such an understanding is death, which seems to present a radical break with continuity. To maintain the integrity of this worldview, an intricate system of practices and beliefs (including the extensive mythic geographies of the afterlife, texts providing moral guidance (for this life and the next) and rituals designed to facilitate the transportation into the afterlife) was developed, whose primary purpose was to emphasize the unending continuation of existence. Given these two cultural foci, it is understandable that the tales recorded within this mythological corpus tend to be either creation accounts or depictions of the world of the dead and of the gods place within it.

In this context, Ptah was a god of craftsmen (often associated with the Hellenic Hephaestus and the Roman Vulcan) who was also associated with primordial earth. His most important contribution to the cosmic order, as recorded in the mythic corpus, can be found in a Memphite creation account, where he generates the cosmos through the power of his speech and ideation (see below).

Mythological Accounts

Given his relative ubiquity in the archaeological record, Egyptologists have long realized the importance of Ptah in the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. However, this does not bely the fact that the craftsmen god is relatively ill-defined, mythologically speaking. This paucity of references (and the disjunction between this fact and the archaeological record) implies one of several possibilities: that the god was a relatively later incorporation into the pantheon, that it was caused by "a lack of function in the mortuary sphere," or that it was motivated by a "desire on the part of the Heliopolitan theologians to minimize the position of the Memphite deity" (as those scribes were the source of the vast majority of extant mythological and theological writings).

Characterization

Since Ptah was the primordial mound, and had called creation into being, he was considered the god of craftsmen, and in particular stone-based crafts. Eventually, due to the connection of these things to tombs, and that at Thebes, the craftsmen regarded him so highly as to say that he controlled their destiny. Consequently, first amongst the craftsmen, then the population as a whole, Ptah also became a god of reincarnation. Since Seker was also god of craftsmen, and of re-incarnation, Seker was later assimilated with Ptah becoming Ptah-Seker.

Ptah-Seker gradually became seen as the personification of the sun during the night, since the sun appears to be re-incarnated at this time, and Ptah was the primordial mound, which lay beneath the earth. Consequently, Ptah-Seker became considered an underworld deity, and eventually, by the Middle Kingdom, become assimilated by Osiris, the lord of the underworld, occasionally being known as Ptah-Seker-Osiris.

Ptah and the Creation of the Cosmos

In the Memphite theology, a text recording the beliefs of Ptah's cult center, the god was celebrated as the one who called the world into being, having dreamt creation in his heart and spoken it into existence.

And great and important is Ptah,

who gave life to all the gods and their kas as well

through this heart and this tongue

...

It has developed that the heart and tongue have control of all limbs,

showing that he is preeminent in every body and in every mouth---

of all the gods, and all people, all animals, and all crawling things that live---

planning and governing everything he wishes.

...

It has developed that the heart and tongue have control of all limbs,

showing that he is preeminent in every body and in every mouth---

of all the gods, and all people, all animals, and all crawling things that live---

planning and governing everything he wishes.

...

It has developed that Ptah is called "He who made all and caused the gods to develop,"

since he is Ta-tenen, who gave birth to the gods,

from whom everything has emerged---

food-offerings and sustenance, gods' offerings, and every perfect thing.

This discussion of "emergence" in the final stanza refers to the god's relationship with primordial earth. However, describing this passage, Frankfort notes that this theology never reached national prominence, suggesting that perhaps the depiction of Ptah "as a transcendent, not an immanent, power," and this this understanding "possessed a degree of abstraction in which the Egyptians were not prepared to acquiesce."

Other Accounts

Ptah and Osiris?

A badly corrupted reference in the Egyptian Book of the Dead suggests that Ptah came to the aid of Osiris during his ordeal with Set:

Nephthys saith: "I have gone round about to protect thee, brother Osiris; I have come to be a protector unto thee. [My strength shall be behind thee, my strength shall be behind thee, for ever. Ra hath heard thy cry, and the gods have granted that thou shouldst be victorious. Thou art raised up, and thou art victorious over that which hath been done unto thee. Ptah hath thrown down thy foes, and thou art Horus, the son of Hathor.]

However, this connection is not elaborated upon in other mythic sources.

In another verse of the Book of the Dead, Osiris is depicted as being a composite (or perhaps the culmination) of all gods. Ptah, likely in his naturalistic correspondence with the earth, is understood to represent the god's feet.

Saith Osiris: "O land of the sceptre! O white crown of the divine Form! O holy resting place! I am the Child. ... My hips and thighs are the hips and thighs of Nut. My feet are the feet of Ptah. ... There is no member of my body which is not the member of some god.

This account is demonstrative of the weak attributions and characterizations common to Egypt's religious and mythical sources (as described by Frankfort).

Cult of Ptah

Worship

Ptah was one of the central gods of the Memphite pantheon and was widely venerated for several thousand years. In addition to his temple in Memphis, he was also worshiped in Upper Egypt, Egyptian Nubia, and in urban areas throughout the country—most often in areas inhabited by craftspeople and artisans (who he was considered the patron of). In popular practice, "as the god 'who hears prayers' he remained a favorite deity frequently addressed by the common people."

Mummification and "Opening the Mouth"

Some early sources suggest that Ptah may be credited for the invention of the "opening the mouth" ritual, which was a central element of the mummification process.

To be said: "May Ptah open my mouth, and may the god of my town loose the swathings, even the swathings which are over my mouth. Moreover, may Thoth, being filled and furnished with charms, come and loose the bandages, the bandages of Set which fetter my mouth (3); and may the god Tmu hurl them' at those who would fetter [me] with them, and drive them back. May my mouth be opened, may my mouth be unclosed by Shu with his iron knife, wherewith he opened the mouth of the gods. I am Sekhet, and I sit upon the great western side of heaven. I am the great goddess Sah among the souls of Annu.

Representations

In art, Ptah is portrayed as a bearded, partially-mummified man, often wearing a skull cap, holding in his hands a staff that features a symbol combining the ankh, was, and djed (the symbols of life, power and stability, respectively). While the deity was also associated with the Apis bull and the two were often depicted together, the creature was understood to be a discrete entity.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Assmann, Jan. In search for God in ancient Egypt. Translated by David Lorton. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 2001. ISBN 0801487293.
• Breasted, James Henry. Development of religion and thought in ancient Egypt. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. ISBN 0812210454.
• Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). The Egyptian Book of the Dead. 1895. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
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• Budge, E. A. Wallis. The gods of the Egyptians; or, Studies in Egyptian mythology. A Study in Two Volumes. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.
• Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian texts. 1912. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
• Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). The Rosetta Stone. 1893, 1905. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
• Dennis, James Teackle (translator). The Burden of Isis. 1910. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
• Dunand, Françoise and Zivie-Coche, Christiane. Gods and men in Egypt: 3000 B.C.E. to 395 C.E.. Translated from the French by David Lorton. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. ISBN 080144165X.
• Erman, Adolf. A handbook of Egyptian religion. Translated by A. S. Griffith. London: Archibald Constable, 1907.
• Frankfort, Henri. Ancient Egyptian Religion. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. ISBN 0061300772.
• Griffith, F. Ll. and Thompson, Herbert (translators). The Leyden Papyrus. 1904. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
• Meeks, Dimitri. Daily life of the Egyptian gods. Translated from the French by G.M. Goshgarian. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, 1996. ISBN 0801431158.
• Mercer, Samuel A. B. (translator). The Pyramid Texts. 1952. Accessed online at [www.sacred-texts.com/egy/pyt/index.htm sacred-texts.com].
• Pinch, Geraldine. Handbook of Egyptian mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. ISBN 1576072428.
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