Pasherienptah (III) ''(p3-šrỉ-n-ptḥ'', 'Son of

Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the h ...

'; November 4, 90 BCE – July 13 or 14, 41 BCE) was an ancient Egyptian

high Priest of Ptah The High Priest of Ptah was sometimes referred to as "the Greatest of the Directors of Craftsmanship" ('' wr-ḫrp-ḥmwt''). This title refers to Ptah as the patron god of the craftsmen.Dodson and Hilton, ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancie ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

from 76 BCE until his death. Two of his stelas are known, the one with a hieroglyphic inscription is in the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

(Ash. M. 1971/18), the other, Demotic stela, of which only seven fragments have been found, is in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

(BM 886).

Background

Born as the son of High Priest Pedubast III and the

sistrum A sistrum (plural: sistra or Latin sistra; from the Greek ''seistron'' of the same meaning; literally "that which is being shaken", from ''seiein'', "to shake") is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient ...

-player of Ptah, Herankh-Beludje in the 25th regnal year of

Ptolemy X Ptolemy X Alexander I ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Ἀλέξανδρος, ''Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros'') was King of Egypt from 107 BC till his death in 88 BC, in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter until 101 BC, and ...

. He became High Priest at the age of fourteen and played an important role at the

Sed festival The Sed festival (''ḥb-sd'', conventional pronunciation ; also known as Heb Sed or Feast of the Tail) was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name is taken from the name of an Egyptian wolf god, ...

of the king. It is also known that he made a visit to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, where he participated in a ritual honoring the goddess

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

. His autobiography also mentions a visit of the king to Memphis. At the age of 31, on July 25, 58 BCE he married fourteen-year-old Taimhotep, the member of a priestly family, and had three daughters in succession, Berenike (56/55–33 BCE), Herankh-Beludje, and Her'an-Tapedubast. They prayed to

Imhotep , other_names = Asclepius (name in Greek) Imouthes (also name in Greek) , burial_place = Saqqara (probable) , occupation = chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser and High Priest of Ra , years_active = , known_for ...

– an

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

sage who was later deified and associated with Ptah – for a son. Their son Imhotep-Pedubast was born in 46 BCE, as Pasherienptah's fifth child. Another daughter, Kheredankh (65–44 BCE), was from a previous relationship. Pasherienptah died at the age of 49, surviving his wife by one year, and was buried in the 12th regnal year of

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, on October 1, 41 BCE. His son followed him as high priest, but he died young, in 30 BCE and had no descendants.

References

External links

Epitaph of Psherenptah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasherienptah III Memphis High Priests of Ptah 90 BC births 41 BC deaths