Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Grand Architect


Ptah (Pteh, Peteh) was one of the triad of Memphis along withSekhmet (or Bast) and Nefertum. When Memphis became the capital of Egypt, Ptah became the ultimate creator who made everything including the gods of the Ogdoad of Hermopolis and the Ennead of Heliopolis and was given the epithet "He who set all the gods in their places and gave all things the breath of life". Ptah was worshipped throughout all of Egypt, but his primary cult centres were in Memphis and Heliopolis. He was so popular in Egypt that it is said that the name "Egypt" itself derives from a Greek spelling of the name of a temple in Memphis; "Hwt-kA-ptH", which means "the temple of the Ka of Ptah".

Ptah

He is often described as an abstract form of the "Self-Created One", who made the universe either by the wish of his heart (sometimes associated with Hathor or Horus) and by his tongue (or speech, identified with Thoth and Tefnut). Alternatively, you could argue that he was more directly in control of creation than either Ra or Atum). He was the patron of sculptors, painters, builders and carpenters, and other craftsmen and was thought to have invented masonry. In fact, he may have formed the template for the idea of god as the great architect which is so popular in Masonic mythology and some branches of Christian theology, or as the Book of the Dead puts it, "a master architect, and framer of everything in the universe". However, it is also worthy of note that some versions of the legend stated that Ptah created the heavens and the earth while Khnum fashioned the people and animals on his potter's wheel, although it is still implied that Ptah created Khnum.

He was also a god of rebirth who was sometimes credited with creating Opening of the Mouth ceremony which restored life to the deceased (although it is also associated with Anubis and Wepwaet). He was also the patron of the second month of the Egyptian calendar, called Paopi by the Greeks.

Votive stele to Ptah frm Deir el Medina

Ptah was a great protector of Egypt. According to myth, he saved the town of Pelusium from the Assyrian invaders. the bowstrings and shield handles of the enemy, destroying their weapons and sending them home in a panic. The Shabaka stone records that Ptah helped  as the "Ba" (one of the parts of the soul) of Ptah. However, in later times, the Apis was associated with him only while it was living and associated w. Herodotus wrote that the Apis bull was conceived from a bolt of lightning, it was black with a while diamond on his forehead, the image of a vulture on his back, double hairs on his tail and a scarab


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