Word: imhotep
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...like bricks. Digging deeper in the ground, Emery found an amazing network of ancient tunnels, most of them piled to their roofs with ibis mummies. Since the ibis was an Egyptian symbol of wisdom, they indicated to Emery that somewhere near by had stood the long-lost shrine of Imhotep, the Egyptian father of medicine, who was probably the first intellectual to impress his name on history...
...Step Pyramid itself is a monument to Imhotep. It was built as the tomb of Pharaoh Zoser, who reigned about 2980 B.C., but Imhotep was its architect. And because it is the oldest stone pyramid, the Egyptians have credited Imhotep with inventing the art of building with cut stone. He was also Zoser's prime minister, a magician, sage, proverb maker, and patron of the scribes who ran the Egyptian bureaucracy. Century by century through Egypt's long history his reputation grew. During the Ptolemaic dynasty (323-30 B.C.), when Greeks ruled Egypt, he was identified with Asclepius...
Healing Ibises. The most magnificent of these shrines, or Asclepieions, was somewhere near the Step Pyramid. It was especially holy because the body of the healer himself was believed to be buried near by. The pilgrims who came to Saqqara sacrificed ibises, which were sacred to Imhotep. Their carcasses were mummified and tucked away underground so that their souls would journey to the god and ask his healing favor. The shrine was deserted many centuries ago, and desert storms erased all surface traces of it. Not until Emery broke into its catacombs did anyone know what had become...
...distressingly young for Egypt. But the network of tunnels apparently covers more than a square mile, and Emery intends to explore them thoroughly, no matter how many mummies he must disturb. His goal is the hidden tomb of history's first intellectual, and the mummy of the great Imhotep himself...