AHA

VOLUME 20, NUMBER 4

VOLUME OCTOBER
OCTOBER,, 2002

Imhotep ..... First, Last, and Always

by Samuel L. Ostrin, M.D.

Fellow medical practitioners who re- Pharaohs were divine by

coil at jokes about doctors who think they birth, Imhotep had to work
are gods, take comfort .... there was one at it. As Chief Lector Priest,
who made it. He was called Imhotep, he was charged with negoti-
Egyptian for ‘he who comes in peace’. (fig. ating with the fickle and de-
1) Breasted1, the noted Egyptologist, re- manding gods. It was up to
calling the first 3,000 years of civilization, his cunning and insight to
stated, “....the history of the world had anticipate their displeasures
largely been the irresistable drift of tradi- and to avert natural disas-
tion. The outstanding exception was the ters. Equally as important,
great architect-physician, Imhotep. Oth- he was responsible for per-
erwise men had been but drops of water forming the “Liturgy of
in the great tide.” Funerary Offerings” and
Imhotep lived in the Third Dynasty of “The Opening of the
Egypt (2780-2720 B.C.)* during the rule Fig. 1. Imhotep’s name written in hieroglyphics. Mouth”. 5 These were cer-
of King Zoser. Born the son of the archi- emonies which transported
tect, Kanofer, it was as an architect that (mustaba) ..... which made them ripe pick- an important mummy from this world to
Imhotep left his most visable foot print ings for grave robbers. The pyramid he the next, and guaranteed successful resus-
on history. He designed and built the first built for his Pharaoh became Zoser’s stone citation of vital functions once it arrived.
pyramid. (fig. 2) The step pyramid of vase, his impenetrable vault of posterity. As Sage and Scribe, Imhotep was the
Sakkara, near Memphis was to serve as the Since Imhotep, Man and his works have source of proverbs and maxims.1 Although
tomb for King Zoser, and become the in- been endowed with a degree of perma- no actual quotes survive, his words awak-
spiration for all monumental stone struc- nence, and lasting value. Besides the obvi- ened the conscience of his time, and
tures which followed. When the step pyra- ous esthetic and engineering marvels of the served as the commandments of daily life.
mid was unearthed in the 1920’s, the base pyramid and related temples, the excava- It would take another 1,500 years before
of a statue of Imhotep was found. (fig. 3) tors must have felt caught in a time warp. Moses would exodus Egypt (1250 B.C.)
The inscription attests to his talents. “The They found Doric style columns, which and receive more permanent guidelines.
Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, had apparently been constructed 2,000 If all these duties occupied his days,
The First after the King of Upper Egypt, years before the Greeks had invented Imhotep, the Astronomer and Astrologer,
Administrator of the Great Place, Heredi- them.3 spent his nights observing the heavenly
tary Lord, High Priest of Heliopolis, Imhotep excercised
Imhotep, the Builder, the Sculptor, the both secular and sacred
Maker of Stone Vases.”3 duties. His secular sta-
The last and most innocuous title of tus was essentially that
‘maker of stone vases’ was perhaps the of prime minister and
most prophetic legacy. The craftsmen of cabinet combined. As
his time were molders of mud and straw Grand Vizier to Pha-
bricks, makers of wattle houses, and pot- raoh, his duties in-
ters of clay. The product was like its cluded being: ‘Chief
maker.....perishable. Until Imhotep envi- Judge’, ‘Overseer of the
sioned the pyramid, Kings were buried in King’s records’, ‘Bearer
a deep ditch covered by a dirt mound of the royal seal’, ‘Su-
pervisor of that which
*The Egyptian calender dates back to 4236 Heaven brings, the
B.C. (the Jewish 3760 B.C and the Mayan Earth creates, and the
3372 B.C.). In 3100 B.C., Menes united Nile brings’, and ‘Su-
the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt to pervisor of everything Fig. 2. The Step Pyramid of Sakkara
form the First Dynasty.2 in this entire land’.4 Continued on page 4
4 BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY

Imhotep. . .Continued from page 1 Unfortunately, no records of But thou, when thou prayest,
Imhotep’s activities as a physi- enter into the closet, and when thou
cian have been unearthed. In hast shut thy door, pray to thy Fa-
1957, Professor W.B. Emery ex- ther which is in secret; and thy Fa-
cavating in the Sakkara area6,7, ther which seeth in secret, shall re-
came across some tantalizing ward thee openly.
finds to suggest that Imhotep’s
tomb must be near by. His death Even though sainthood followed
in 1971 ended seven years of shortly after death, his apotheosis took
searching. Thanks to Erman8, 2,500 years (525 B.C.). His elevation to a
we can be confident that full fledged god demanded repackaging.
Imhotep walked this earth dur- A god needed a god for a father. The
ing Zoser’s time. In the absence mighty Ptah was the obvious choice. The
of the man, we are left with the lion-headed Sekhmet became his new
myth. mother. Together, they formed the Triad
Fig. 3. Statue of Imhotep from Kunstmuseum in When one of messianic pro- of Memphis.5,9 The symbolism of the trin-
Berlin, Germany portions dies, the myth mush- ity (two gods and one goddess) was an
rooms. His death didn’t dimin- Egyptian hallmark.
bodies for omens and portents. ish Egypt’s dependence on him. People Imhotep’s fortunes fared better than his
Imhotep was more than ‘the first out- were drawn to his place of interment. In beloved Egypt. Egypt would fall under for-
standing individual in human history’, as death, as in life, they brought their suf- eign domination, most notably the Per-
Breasted claims. Johnson3 more aptly re- fering for his succor. He didn’t abandon sians under Darius I and the Ptolomeic
fers to him as ‘The Leonardo of Memphis’. his patients. Imhotep’s healing powers period under the Greeks. As Egyptian civi-
Imhotep preceeded the Renaissance by 43 stretched from beyond the grave. lization slowly erroded under foreign in-
centuries. Human events would have to It’s true. You just can’t keep a good Doc fluence, the worship of Imhotep not only
wait that long for a standard worthy of down. To accomodate his new stature, flourished, but was encouraged. It was
comparison. Imhotep was elevated to the rank of a during the Persian period that he was dei-
In spite of all his other accomplish- demi-god, or saint. As a new cult figure, fied. The Greeks called him Imouthes, and
ments, Imhotep is best remembered as the temples were built in his honor, and ranks claimed that their god of medicine,
first great physician. (fig. 4) In the days of priests flourished in his adoration. The Asklepios, was none other than Imhotep
of the Pharaohs, physicians were also ma- temples became sacred places of contem- reincarnate. It wasn’t until well into the
gicians. Magic has always been the Mother plation and incubation sleep. The power Christian Era (550 A.D.) that Imhotep fell
of Medicine. A potion was only as good as and revelations of dreams were highly re- from grace.
the power of the physician’s magic to garded in Egypt. The supplicants would Even though little is known about the
make it work. Physiology and pharmacol- be visited by Imhotep as they slept. He man himself, there can be little doubt how
ogy notwithstanding, what practicing phy- would cure the easy cases over night. For people felt about him. From the graffiti
sician would deny that magic is still op- the more complicated ones, he would pre- on his temples and his historical press clip-
erative in medicine today (the power of scribe incantations and treatments which pings, we learn that Imhotep was:4
the placebo, good bedside manner etc.)? would affect the cure. Miracle hearings
Ancient scrolls like the Berlin, Smith, and became commonplace, Just as his archi- .....the good physician of gods
Eber’s papyri remind us that the Egyp- tectural visions foreshadowed the sky- and men, a kind and merciful god,
tians practiced remarkably imaginative scrapers, his worship presaged dream assuaging the suffering of those in
therapeutics ...... and powerful magic. analysis, the power of positive thinking, pain, healing the diseases of men,
suggestive therapy, bio-feedback and the and giving peaceful sleep to the rest-
like. less and suffering.
What a fountain of hope and compas-
sion he must have been. Consider the beau- .....the god who protects human
tifully lyrical passage from the Papyrus of beings, who gives to him who calls
Ani (The Book of the Dead), which is upon him, who gives life to men and
thought to have originated around women.
Imhotep’s time.
.....the god who gives a son to him
When thou worshippest thy god, who has none.
do it quietly and without ostentation
in the sanctuary of god, to whom Speaking of this man who Sir William
clamour is abhorrent. Pray to him Osler called ‘the first figure of a physician
with a longing heart, in which all to stand out clearly from the mists of an-
words are hidden. So will he grant tiquity’, Ralston7, offers a compelling ar-
thy offerings.4 gument regarding our Hippocratic Oath:
“It is inadvisable to swear, particularly to
These instructions are reminiscent of pagen gods; but if one must swear, why not
Fig. 4. Imhotep as Deity those issued in the Sermon on the Mount to Imhotep?”
of Medicine (Matthew: chapter 6, verse 6). Imhotep’s challenge to all physicians
 BULLETIN OF ANESTHESIA HISTORY 5

is unambiguous. The making of diagnoses

and dispensing of drugs, does not a physi-
cian make. Imhotep, ‘he who comes in Anesthesia History at the 2002 ASA
peace’, Pharaoh’s Adviser, Architect, As-
tronomer, Sage, Scribe, Priest, Poet, and Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL
Physician. He was not only the first and
greatest of all physicians, but is still the Monday, October 14, 2002
only healer to stay in practice for over
3,000 years! 12:30 - 2:30 PM
Orange County Convention Center, Room 315-A
References Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology Friends Tea and Booksigning
1. Breasted, James. The Dawn of Conscience.
Chas. Schribner, New York, 1934, p. 140, 301.
2. Cooke J, Kramer A. History’s Timeline. Cres- 2 - 4 PM
cent Books, New York, 1981.
3. Johnson P. The Civilizatin of Ancient Egypt. Orange County Convention Center, Room 414-A
Atheneum Press, New York, 1978, pp. 33-37. Forum on the Writing of the History of Anesthesiology
4. Hurry JB. Imhotep: The Visier and Physician of
King Zoser. Oxford University Press, 2nd edition,
1928. 6 - 9 PM
5. Budge EAW. The Egyptian Book of the Dead. Peabody Orlando, Florida I Room
Dover Publ., New York, 1967.
6. Kolta KS. Imhotep und die Medizin. Sudhoff Anesthesia History Association Annual Dinner Meeting
Arch. 1973;57(3):245-254.
7. Ralston BL. I Swear by Imhotep the Physi-
cian. New York State Journal of Medicine, Nov.
1977;2148-2152. Tuesday, October 15, 2002
8. Erman A. Aegypten und Aegyptishes Leben in
Altertum. Tubingen, 1923, p. 477.
9. Budge EAW. The Gods of the Egyptians. Dover 12:50 - 1:50 PM
Publ., New York, 1969, vol. II. Orange County Convention Center, Room 224-H
The 2002 Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lecture

2 - 4 PM
Orange County Convention Center, Room 224-H
Panel on History

Anesthesia History Association

Sixth Annual Resident Essay Contest
The Anesthesia History Association (AHA) sponsors an annual Resident Essay Contest with the prize presented
at the ASA Annual Meeting.

A 1,500-3,000-word essay related to the history of anesthesia, pain management or critical care should be submit-
ted to:
William D. Hammonds, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair, AHA Resident Essay Contest
University of Iowa
School of Medicine
Dept. of Anesthesia
200 Hawkins Drive, 6 JCP
Iowa City, IA 52242-1079
U.S.A.
The entrant must have written the essay either during his/her residency/fellowship or within one year of comple-
tion of residency/fellowship. Residents/Fellows in any nation are eligible, but the essay MUST be submitted in
English. All submissions must be typewritten.

An honorarium of $500.00 and a certificate will be awarded at the AHA’s annual dinner meeting at the ASA.

The award-winning residents will be invited to present their essays in person at the annual spring meeting of the
AHA and their work will be published in the Bulletin of Anesthesia History.

All entries must be received on or before August 15, 2003.

August