We don't know for certain what the Name of Ptah means, but it might mean "to engrave," "to sculpture," or "creator." He is the patron of craftsmen, artists, carpenters and builders. He created the supports of the heavens and is the architect of the universe.
Hieroglyphs for Ptah's Name
Ptah appears as a standing man with a smooth head covered by a tight-fitting cap. He wears mummy wrappings and holds a scepter in His hands. This scepter combines three symbols: the was (meaning "power"), the djed (meaning "stability") and the ankh (meaning "life"). He also wears a stand-up collar with a tassel hanging at His neck. Ptah stands on a wedge-shaped platform that symbolizes Ma'at.
[insert image of Ptah with composite scepter]
Ptah created the world by the power of the thoughts in His heart (that is, His mind) and the words of His tongue. This creative power is contained in every heartbeat and every sound. He also creates with His hands, and He is called the "sculptor of the earth." Ptah uses a chisel and carves in stone, unlike the God Khnum, who fashions the Gods and Goddesses from clay on a potter's wheel.
Some of Ptah's titles are "He who created the arts," and "He with the beautiful face." The High Priest of Ptah in ancient times was called "The Master Builder." As "Lord of Ma'at," Ptah is the God who gives good and evil to men during their lifetimes. Good flows to those who are good and evil goes to the wicked.
Ptah was worshipped as the principal God of Mennefer (Memphis), together with His wife, Sekhmet, and Their son, Nefertem. The three Gods make up a Divine Triad, a group of Gods worshipped together as father, mother, and child. Since almost the earliest recorded times, Ptah was also associated with the Apis bull. This was a living symbol (called a "theophany") through which Ptah could communicate with humans in the form of oracles.
Ptah takes part in the funerary rites of the dead, holding a chisel to the mummy or statue in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. In the Middle Kingdom, Ptah and Wesir were combined along with Sokar to become Ptah-Sokar-Wesir. Sokar is also a God of crafts, but using things within the earth, like metals, minerals, and jewels. Wesir is the King of the Underworld and Judge of the Dead. Ptah-Sokar-Wesir is primarily connected with the dead and the Afterlife, appearing as a man wearing a crown with flat horns, and tall plumes, and sometimes a solar disk.
Here is a beautiful prayer to Ptah, written by His son, Khaiptah:
Praise to you Ptah, Lord of All Builders.
You who takes the clay from Hapy's banks,
You who takes the sand from the home of Set,
You who takes the tears of Nit
Who adds the wheat stalks of grain grown by Wesir,
Combine them into the bricks we use for Your honor.
Walk with me to the design table where I plan my works.
Stabilize the scaffold of my veneration
Hold my trowel while I build my life in Your praise.
