Imhotep, << ihm HOH tehp, >> was an ancient Egyptian architect, physician, and statesman who lived about 2650 B.C. Imhotep was one of the highest ranking officials in Egypt. He designed and built the first known Egyptian pyramid , for King Zoser. The pyramid, which stands in the village of Saqqarah , near present-day Cairo, was also one of the first large stone structures to be built. Imhotep had a reputation for wisdom that probably came from a text he wrote called Instruction.
There are no existing records of Imhotep’s medical work. Scholars know of his fame as a physician because the ancient Greeks identified him with their god of healing, Asclepius (see Asclepius ). They built shrines and made hundreds of bronze statuettes in Imhotep’s honor.
Today, the field of medicine honors him as the first physician known by name. A statue of Imhotep stands in the Hall of Immortals in the International College of Surgeons in Chicago.
