Statuette of Imhotep

Imhotep was adviser to King Djoser in the third dynasty and he is credited with the design of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, the earliest pyramid in Egypt. For this and other achievements of wisdom and learning attributed to him, in later periods he became one of the only historical non-royal people to be divinized and to have a dedicated cult, which was particularly strong in the Memphite region.

In copper alloy statuettes like this one, he is shown sitting, wearing his close-fitting cap and holding a scroll on his lap. His attire varies, but in this instance he wears a broad collar that is articulated on the front and back of his chest, as well as a long pleated kilt wrapped about his body so that its ends fall forward from his waist in a vertically pleated panel. In a symbolic sense, the scroll serves to emphasize his wisdom and erudition, his role as a patron of scribes, and hints at the many intellectual forays into medicine, architecture, and engineering that were later ascribed to him. The scroll on this statuette of Imhotep is inscribed with three lines written retrograde, that is, with the signs facing the end of the text rather than the beginning. The first is mostly missing but must have had the name of Imhotep, the second reads 'eldest son of Ptah' and the third 'born of Cherduankh.'

The very round abdomen suggests the statuette dates to the Ptolemaic Period.