Imhotep, stands before the 3rd Dynasty King Zoser at the Scottish Rite Temple, Los Angeles

Imhotep the Son of God

For nearly three thousand years he was venerated and recognized as something more than just a priest or an architect. Often shown holding his architectural drawings or medical scrolls, for nearly the entire history of ancient Egypt (from his service in dynasty III till the end of dynasty XXX or the Roman period), it is clear, Imhotep was the very prototype who set the stage for the selection and training of all the other priest and architects of Egypt and its jurisdiction. As the Worlds first recorded multi-genius or renaissance personality, besides architecture and medicine, he was said to have excelled in, astronomy and was the chief lector priest (Kari Heb) of all the temples in Egypt. In his day, this was akin to being the Pope of Rome. He was a sage, a scribe and probably set the standard for admonitions (Psalm’s) on how to live and perhaps, most importantly, he was the grand Vizier, that’s next to the Pharaoh in power; thus, the administration of the entire country passed through his hands. As Vizier some of the departments of his office included, “ the Judiciary, the Treasury, War (Army and Navy), the Interior, Agriculture, and the General Executive”. As Grand Vizier, he was Egypt’s top government administrator (like being Prime Minister) and at least 700 years before the unification of Mesopotamia, Kemet’s nearest intellectual and technological competitor. As architect, during the third Egyptian dynasty, he designed the first monumental structure known to mankind, the step pyramid for King Zoser. Before his later venerations as the son of Ptah he was born around 3000 B.C. in Ankhtowe, a suburb of Memphis, to Khreduankh, his mother, and Kanefer the architect, his Father (Hurry, 1928, p. 4-5). Somewhere between 495 and 491 B.C., while quarrying stone in the Wadi Hammamat valley (in the area of Coptos near the Red Sea), the architect Khnum-ib-re, beginning with Kanefer and his son Imhotep, left an inscription recording the names of his ancestors. The record or pedigree lists twenty-five architects, “all of whom are consecutively fathers and sons, Moreover, they are all master builders” (Hurry, 1928, p.193).

Imhotep and ancient Kemet had an enormous influence on Christian architecture and religion. Many of these influences began to manifest around the time assigned to the birth of Jesus; which, phenomenally, was the peak of Imhotep worship. Imhotep (He who comes in peace), as many of the temple inscriptions of the Greek and Roman periods seem to detail, was worship as the “Son of God” (the son of Path). In order to understand the degree of reverence and respect paid to Imhotep at the time it must be understood that these were pre-Christian times and the Hebrews anticipation of a messiah had not yet been fulfilled. In fact many orthodox Jews still deny the divinity of Jesus and are still awaiting the arrival of the messiah. Gerald Massey (Ancient Egypt the Light of the World) referred to Imhotep as a pre-Christ figure and it is certainly something worthy of at least added investigation for, if for no other reason, like the Nazarene, Imhotep too was a mortal man on earth who was later declared the “Son of God”. He was, in the eyes of the Greek’s and natives of Egypt, the son of the creative force of the universe, and in those times he had no peers for that position. There are many parallels to be drawn between Imhotep the builder and Jesus the carpenter but the one that perhaps strikes home the most is that of the two as healers.

Imhotep the healer and Isis are, in a very unique way, brought together on the island of Philae at the major temple there devoted to the Egyptian mother goddess. The island of Philae is Located in what was, at one time, ancient Nubia and today’s southern Egypt. The island and its temples, tough primarily devoted to Isis and the miraculous birth of her son Horus, was also a tribute to the goddess Hathor and housed a remarkable shrine to the great Imhotep. The shrine seems to have been for the purpose of healing. It is said the sick would sleep and dream there and the priest would subsequently interpret the dreams for healing purposes. It is clear that, by the testimonials of numerous Greek Historians and Philosophers’, there was a strong connection between Imhotep and the Greek god of healing, Asklepios. Imhotep, Jesus and Asklepios were, by all accounts, gods of healing with of course Imhotep and the Nile Valley being the progenitor of them all.  This reminds one of Herodotus (citation) statement that “all the gods came to Greece from Egypt”

Imhotep’s pyramid design for Zoser in the 3rd dynasty (at Saqqara) represented, architectonically, that moment in creation when Ptah-Ta-Tanen, the architect of the universe, evoked the primeval hill (Waret) to rise from the primeval waters of nun. Waret became the original resting place of the Falcon and so all the temples (ht ntr) of Kemet, regardless of configuration, housed a shrine (Kari) or holy of holies that represented that moment in creation when god’s great mind (Ptah) created matter from water and illuminated creation with the light of the world, the Falcon. Imhotep’s relationship with Ptah is astonishing for the Edfu text makes it clear that Ptah and Tanen are one (Reymond, 1969); he is the creator of the primeval waters (pth-nwyt), and The Lord of Creation (nb-pth). Ptah preceded all other divine beings and he was the divine word that uttered into existence all the substance of creation. Imhotep as the son of Ptah, during late stages of Kemetic history, like Jesus, was literally seen as the Son of the great God of the universe. According to the inscriptions at Edfu, (Reymond, 1969) Imhotep composed a Book of Divine Specifications, and or, The Book of Foundation (De Lubicz, 1982, p. 103), that descended from heaven (Reymond, 1969, p. 317; Hurry, 1928, p. 17) to the north of Men-nefer (Memphis) and the book was apparently past down to generations of architects and the plan of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, at least 2500 years later, was based on it.

- The above is From a fourth coming book by Mathu Ater -

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