During the third dynasty, about the year 3,500 B.C. there lived a
learned physician (probably a priest of Ra, the sun-god) the founder of
a cult, whose eminence was such that in course of ages he is deified and
becomes for later generations the special god of medicine. His temples
were places of healing for the people. His name is I-em-hotep, meaning
‘he who cometh in peace.’ According to ancient inscriptions he was the
son of a certain architect named Kanofer, but when raised in popular
esteem to the rank of a demi-god he is called the son of the supreme god
Ptah, the Hephaistos of Egypt, and he becomes one of the great god-triad
of Memphis. I-em-hotep is described as ‘the good physician of gods and
men, a kind and merciful god, assuaging the sufferings of those in pain,
healing the diseases of men, giving peaceful sleep to the restless and
suffering’; he is called ‘the creative god who giveth life to all men,
who comes unto them who call upon him in every place, and who gives sons
to the childless.’[3] He was great in magic and all learning. He and his
followers had to do with the embalming of the body, and he protected the
soul of the dead man from all spiritual enemies after it had left the
body. In the ritual of embalmment the dead man was encouraged by these
words, ‘Thy soul uniteth itself to I-em-hotep; while thou art in the
funeral valley thy heart rejoiceth because thou dost not go into the
dwelling of Sebek, but thou are like a son in the house of his
father.’[4]
From the testimony of temple inscriptions and papyri, as well as from
the writings of Manetho, it is clear that the cult of the medicine-god
I-em-hotep was established first in early times at Memphis. In, or
adjacent to, some temple—perhaps that of Ra—I-em-hotep and his assistant
priests gave advice and medical aid to multitudes of the sick and
ailing. It is evident that he gained great renown for his skill and
learning. When at length he died he was buried in or near the temple.
The priests whom he had taught continued there the work of healing,
always in association with his name. Just as the Greeks came to
Epidaurus to be healed by Asklepios, so did the Egyptians, many
centuries earlier, visit Memphis to seek help from I-em-hotep. It seems
probable that in course of time the temple formerly dedicated to some
well-known Egyptian god ceased to be known by his name, and in popular
speech became the house of I-em-hotep. There is the clearest evidence of
the existence of an important temple in later times dedicated to
I-em-hotep at Memphis.
A hieroglyphic inscription describes I-em-hotep appearing in a vision to
the high priest of Memphis, and addressing him thus:—‘I desire that a
great building be erected in the holy place at Anche-tewej (a part of
Memphis), where my body is hidden, for building it I will give thee the
reward of a son.’[5] We know this temple was built. Later again, similar
temples were erected elsewhere; doubtless priest physicians were
transferred from Memphis to new centres, just as to Greece and Magna
Graecia Epidaurus sent forth trained priests to establish Asklepieia at
Athens, Cos, or Pergamos.
As the centuries and millenniums passed on the cult of I-em-hotep seems
to have become more and more popular. In later times, when Greek
colonists appeared in Egypt, they gave him the name Imouthes, and
applied to his temples the Greek term ‘Asklepieia,’ clearly regarding
him as alike in kind to the Greek Asklepios and his temples as hospitals
for the sick. The following phrase occurs in the Serapeum Greek
papyrus:—
‘τὸ πρὸς Μέµφιν µέγα Ἀσκληπιείον’[6]
The great temple stood outside the eastern wall of Memphis close to the
Serapeum. We may reasonably hope that a careful examination of the site
may yet reveal to us traces of the temple and perhaps even the tomb and
remains of I-em-hotep himself. Some of those who are present to-day when
visiting the site of the temple of I-em-hotep have been impressed by the
thought that on this spot, long before Asklepios, the source, or
Hippocrates, commonly called the father of medicine, were born, probably
before the Homeric poems were written, before the Israelites were in
Egypt, before the Stone Age had passed, learned men here devoted
themselves to the consideration of the nature of human life, strove to
prolong it, to assuage suffering, and to cure disease. They studied and
treated many of the ailments familiar to us, such as tubercle, leprosy,
plague, anaemia, and other diseases prevalent in Egypt to-day. Near the
site of this temple, securely sealed in an earthen vessel which had been
hidden in the sand, was found one of the medical papyri from which I
shall quote some passages; doubtless it belonged to an early physician
who sought, perhaps during the invasion of Ethiopian or other
barbarians, to preserve for mankind the precious knowledge that seemed
in danger of extinction.
As we should naturally expect in the case of one so eminent, the
Egyptian artists made many drawings and bronze figures of I-em-hotep;
they usually represent him as a man rather than as a god, with few
mystic or metaphorical emblems excepting those related to learning or
human life. He is represented in art as a bald-headed man, usually in a
sitting posture, bearing on his knees an open papyrus scroll, and
sometimes holding in his hand the symbol of life.[7]