Getting Away with It: An Artist's Blog about Art: Death is only the Beginning

Many people may recognize my title as a quote by the infamous Imhotep from the 1999 remake of “The Mummy.” What many people don’t know of is the innocence behind the real Imhotep’s past. The Imhotep I’m about to tell you of is not an evil mummy out to rid the world of Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weisz. Instead, this (normal, not possessed, non-divine) architect built Egypt’s first pyramid.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information about the real Imhotep. His creations took place in the midst of Bronze Age Egypt- about 1300 BC- and there isn’t any substantial record of his life. He did, as previously mentioned, build one of the most outstanding buildings in the ancient and modern world.

The Great Pyramid of Djoser still stands tall in Saqqara, Egypt. Many thousands of years have eroded its walls and chipped its exterior mud brick but it will forever serve as a tribute to the so-called “great” pharaoh Djoser and as a remarkable step forward in the world of architecture.

Traditionally, pyramids were built as tombs (spanning 13 acres or so) for ONE pharaoh. Imhotep seemed to have the right idea: start with a very large, sturdy mud brick step (called a mastaba, the Arabic word for bench) and slowly add smaller steps on top of it. Imhotep’s original pyramid doesn’t look like much compared to the Sphinx or the pyramids of Giza but he was the original creator and perpetual road-paver for some of the most extraordinary structures in the world.