Egypt: The Gods of Ancient Egypt - Ptah (Pteh, Peteh)

Ptah

Patron of: creation, craftsmen, artisans.

Appearance: A man with a punt beard, wrapped up like a mummy, but with his hands free which grip a great staff made up of the symbols for life, stability, and power. Sometimes he wears a skullcap crown and stands on the hieroglyph for Maat.

Description: In the Memphite theology, Ptah is the primal creator, the first of all the gods, creator of the world and all that is in it. He is not created, but simply is. In some stories he is the personification of the primal matter, Ta-Tenen, which rose out of Nun, the fundamental seas. His wife is said to be Bast (or Sakhmet) and their children are Nefertem, Mahes, and Imhotep.

Ptah's importance may be discerned when one learns that "Egypt" is a Greek corruption of the phrase "Het-Ka-Ptah," or "House of the Spirit of Ptah."

Worship: Worshipped throughout all of Egypt, his cult centers were Memphis and Heliopolis.

Variants:

Ptah-Seker-Osiris
A composite funerary god worshipped during the Middle Kingdom period. In this form he represents the three aspects of the universe: creation, stability, and death.

See also:

Ptah, God of Craftsmen, Rebirth and Creation by Caroline Seawright