Ptah

Ptah was the Egyptian god of creation, craftsmen and architects.

Symbols: Djed pillar and a bull
Cult Centre: Memphis
Consort: Sekhmet and Bastet
Children: Nefertem and Maahes
Greek equivalent: Hephaestus
Roman equivalent: Vulcan

Statue of Ptah from the reign of Amenophis III. Egyptian Museum, Turin. (c) Robven

Ptah is generally represented in the guise of a man with green skin, contained in a shroud sticking to the skin, wearing the divine beard, and holding a sceptre combining three powerful symbols of ancient Egyptian religion: the Was sceptre, the sign of life, Ankh, and the Djed pillar. These three combined symbols indicate the three creative powers of the god: power (was), life (ankh) and stability (djed).

Creator God

In certain Egyptian mythology, Ptah existed before all other things and, by his will, thought the world into existence. It was first conceived by Thought, and realized by the Word: Ptah conceives the world by the thought of his heart and gives life through the magic of his Word. That which Ptah commanded was created, with which the constituents of nature, fauna, and flora, are contained. He also plays a role in the preservation of the world and the permanence of the royal function.

Stucco relief of Ptah, 4th-3rd c. BC. (c) One dead president
1. Head of Ptah, 8th-7th c. BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2. Ptah statue, c. 1070–712 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
3. Damaged statue of Rameses II with Ptah, c. 1292–1189 BC. Memphis Museum. (c) Olaf Tausch

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