Ptah

Ptah formed creation in his heart, the seat of thought and intelligence. His tongue gave commands to what his heart had formed. Through thought and speech, the first forms of creation came into being. Atum’s form emerged from Ptah’s heart and tongue, and all the gods were born through what the heart thought and the tongue commanded.

Atum acted within Ptah’s creative order as the agent of his will. He understood the commands and carried them out. Atum spat forth Shu and vomited out Tefnut. Shu and Tefnut were also treated as aspects of Ptah’s heart and tongue. In one telling, Tefnut was identified with Mayet, the spirit of world order. Through this order, Ptah established the structure of the world, moral order, and royal power.

Ptah’s commands brought the gods, humans, animals, cities, temples, and all other things into existence. Creation was completed through the thoughts of his heart and the words of his mouth. Ptah was also identified with the first land that rose from the primeval waters. He was therefore both the creator of the land and, in one telling, the land itself. The Memphite account joined Ptah’s creation with the older Heliopolitan account of Atum and the Ennead.

During the reign of King Shabako, the Memphite Theology was copied onto stone. Shabako claimed that an earlier leather writing had been damaged by worms. In another telling, Ptah was Nun, the father who begot Atum, while Naunet, the female form of Nun, bore him. In a further variant, Horus became the heart and Thoth became the tongue, replacing Atum as the agents of Ptah’s will.