Ancient Egyptian Architect and Physician, the First Architect Recorded by Name in Human History
Imhotep (c. 2650–2600 BC) was the vizier and architect of the Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser of ancient Egypt, who designed and built the "Step Pyramid" at Saqqara — a building seen as the key early attempt at the transition of ancient Egypt from the earlier simple mastaba tomb form to the later grand pyramid tombs of Giza, and the first large stone building in known human history. He was also famed for his mastery of medicine, and the surgical knowledge recorded in some early medical papyri handed down (such as the Edwin Smith Papyrus) is traditionally associated with his name. For the outstanding talent he displayed in architecture, medicine, astronomy, and other fields, the ancient Egyptians gradually deified and worshiped him after his death, one of the very few historical figures who from mortal status came at last to be honored as a god, and the ancient Greeks later equated him with their own god of medicine, Asclepius.
Imhotep designed and built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara for the pharaoh Djoser, changing the earlier tradition of the flat mastaba tomb, and by stacking successively smaller stone platforms one atop another created the first large all-stone monumental building in human history; this breakthrough in architectural concept laid the technical and aesthetic foundation for the more grand tombs such as the three great pyramids of Giza.
About two thousand years after Imhotep’s death, the ancient Egyptians gradually deified him, honoring him as a god of medicine and healing, building temples specially for him at Memphis and elsewhere where the faithful worshiped and sought healing — this process of "a mortal posthumously granted divinity for outstanding talent" was exceedingly rare in the whole of ancient Egyptian history, testimony to the far-reaching impression his achievements in architecture and medicine left on later ages.
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