Ptah

The god whose breath was said to give life to everything at the beginning, Ptah was so central to ancient Egyptian worship that the name “Egypt” derives in part from him. Ptah is linked to the city of Memphis, which was long the capital of Egypt and which was originally called, among other things, "temple of the soul of Ptah." The ancient Greeks shrank that name, and used it to refer to the entire country, eventually giving us the modern English derivative, which leaves the god’s name to be recognizable in the last two letters of “Egypt.”

As the god who created all the other deities, Ptah is worshipped as the patron of craftspeople and architects. He is credited with inventing masonry. The famed architect Imhotep claimed to be his offspring.

The Apis bull was considered to be a part of Ptah, and lived in his temple in Memphis. The capital city being the home of Ptah did more than just help spread his worship all across Egypt; often the pharaohs’ coronations were in his temple.

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Image: RC 70 Seated Ptah statue at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.