Imhotep (fl. c. 27th century BCE) was an ancient Egyptian polymath who served as chancellor and high priest under the pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty, and is credited as the architect of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the earliest of Egypt's great stone monumental structures and a forerunner of the later true pyramids. Ancient tradition also credited him with expertise in medicine, and texts attributed to a medical tradition bearing his influence describe surgical and diagnostic techniques of considerable sophistication for their time. Centuries after his death he was deified by the ancient Egyptians as a god associated with medicine and healing, one of the few non-royal Egyptians ever to receive such status.
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