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===The Pyramid Inventor===

Uncovering the background of Imhotep has proved to be a Herculean task due to the nature of Egyptian literacy. During the time that Imhotep lived – the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (2600s BC) – pharaonic culture was in one of its earliest phases and although writing had been discovered approximately 500 years earlier, its use was still not widespread. Most extant texts from the period concern religion or the government and few mention anyone by name who is not a member of the royal house. With that said, Imhotep’s deeds were so great that he was briefly mentioned in some contemporary Egyptian texts – the inscription of his name on the base of a statue of King Djoser being one of the more prominent references. <ref> Malek, Jaromir. “The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2125 BC).” In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 92</ref>

Djoser’s pyramid dwarfed all other monuments built in Egypt before the king’s reign. Surrounding the pyramid stood a thirty-four foot high, 5,397 foot long limestone wall. Within the confines of the wall, in the shadow of the pyramid, were a number of smaller temples, pavilions, and altars. The pyramid itself was built in six stages, with all of the constituent mastabas combining to a height of 197 feet and containing 11,668,000 cubic feet of stone. <ref>Lehner, pgs. 84-85</ref> Imhotep’s creation was truly magnificent as it inspired Egyptians in the Fourth Dynasty in order to improve upon his methods to ultimately create the first “true pyramids.” As impressive as Imhotep’s efforts were to build Egypt’s first pyramid, he also attained fame for his work in the fields of medicine and general scholarship.

===Imhotep the Doctor and Scholar===

Long before Newton, Copernicus, or even Archimedes pushed the limits of human knowledge, an Egyptian scholar named Imhotep introduced science to the ancient world. Imhotep’s greatness as a scholar was due to a combination of his genius and ambition, which allowed him to build the first Egyptian pyramid, practice medicine, and to write tracts that are unfortunately now lost. Those feats alone were enough to make him the greatest scientist in the ancient world, but his reputation was so great that he was eventually worshipped as a god, even by non-Egyptians. Truly, when one considers the greatest minds of the ancient world, Imhotep should be at the top of any list!

===References===