Ptah - The Creator of Gods and Universe - Egyptian Mythology

In the complex religion of ancient Egypt, Ptah was considered one of the mightiest deities of the Egyptian pantheon. Known as the creator god who brought all things into being, Ptah was held in special regard by the people of Egypt and was also known as the patron god of craftsmen and architects. Ptah was originally worshipped as the local deity of Memphis, but as the city of Memphis rose in power and became the capital of Egypt during the first dynasty, the worship of Ptah surged to prominence and Ptah came to be celebrated throughout all of Egypt. As Memphis' role expanded throughout Egypt, so did reverence for Ptah's power. Ptah's companion was the warrior goddess Sekhmet. Ptah and Sekhmet together created a son, Nephetem, god of youth and the lotus blossom. Together the three deities were called the Memphite Triad and their cult was one of the largest of the Egyptian dynastic history. Egyptians who were part of the Memphite Triad cult believed that Ptah was the most important of all of Egypt's gods. Ptah was revered by his followers as the most ancient god and therefore the creator of all things including other deities, the sun, the earth and was responsible for new growth and vegetation. Various creation stories of Egyptian mythology state that Ptah made the other deities of the pantheon by imagining them in his heart and speaking them into life with his tongue. After speaking the gods into being, he then began to breathe on wood, metal and stone to make the other creatures of the cosmos. Whenever a new town, city, village, temple or shrine was built, it was said that Ptah must have spoken them into being first and it was Ptah's ceremonies that were often first celebrated after breaking ground. Throughout the centuries the god Ptah took on many different forms. As Ptah was originally a small territorial god of the city of Memphis, as Memphis's influence grew throughout the Egyptian empire, so did the power and representation of Ptah. Originally, it is believed that Ptah was represented as a naked and grotesque dwarf, one of the dwarven deities of the pre-dynastic kingdoms. Egyptologists often associated early worshipped Ptah with another dwarf god named Bes, the god of childbirth. However, as reverence for Ptah grew, soon Ptah began to take on a statelier form. By the time of the formation of the Old Kingdom and the city of Memphis becoming the capital, Ptah had taken on the characteristics of a number of other gods, namely the falcon-headed Seeker and the creator god, Tatanon. In Ptah taking on the characteristics of the god Seeker, Ptah took on Seeker's white shroud and crown, the atef, which was also linked to Osiris. In doing so, Ptah additionally became known as the patron of Saqqara and the sites of the royal pyramids. Over the centuries, Ptah and Osiris were syncretically combined into a deity named Ptah-Seeker-Osiris. The statue of Ptah-Seeker-Osiris began to appear as a half-falcon, half-human, or sometimes as a single falcon form and began to be placed in tombs as a protection for the dead in the afterlife. Ptah was sometimes equated as the hermapolitan chaos pair Nun and Nounet. Besides being a creator god, Ptah is a chthonic god of the dead who seems to be of worship since the early dynastic period. Ptah is often depicted with a straight beard like earthly kings, shrouded like a mummy, holding a special scepter and wearing a skull cap. Ptah was the chief god of the ancient city of Memphis. He was unique amongst Egyptian creation gods in that his methods were intellectual rather than physical. According to the priests of Memphis, everything is the work of Ptah's heart and tongue. Gods are born, towns are founded and order is maintained. Ptah was also the patron god of skilled craftsmen and architects. This may be due to the excellent sources of limestone near his temple in Memphis. As a craftsman, Ptah was said to have carved the divine bodies of the royalty. In Dynasty 19, he was shown fashioning the body of Ramesses II out of electrum, a material made from solid gold. In the artisans' community of Deir el-Medina, near western Thebes, Ptah was especially venerated. He was believed to determine the individual destiny of the artists there. Craftsmen carved statues dedicated to their god. Ears were often carved in these statues to encourage Ptah to take notice of their prayers. In fact, one of Ptah's titles at Thebes was the ear which hears. Thanks for watching everyone. I hope you liked the video and if you really enjoyed it, please support the channel through the super thanks button found underneath the video. Till next time, yours truly, Mythos the Historian.