Ptah

Egyptian god, the divine potter, a personification of the creative force. Worshipped at Memphis, he was portrayed as a primitive human statue or mummy holding an ankh, symbol of life. He was said to be the father of Imhotep, the physician and architect.

Ptah rose to importance when Memphis became the capital of a unified Egypt under the 1st dynasty, around 3050 BC. He assimilated a neighbouring funerary god, Sokar, and came to form a triad with the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet and their son Nefertem, a young god who wore a lotus blossom as a headdress.

In a reconciliation of the theologies of Memphis and Heliopolis, eight gods of creation were declared to be limbs of Ptah, the supreme creator. One of these forms of Ptah was the god Ur who was identified with Atum of the Heliopolitan system.