Death in the Temple of Ptah: The Roman Conquest of Egypt and Conflict at Memphis

Abstract

This study aims to trace the possible fate of the family of the High Priest of Ptah after the Roman conquest in 30 bce. The mysterious death of Imhotep / Padibastet ivcreated a clear rupture in the succession line. At first, Roman authorities seemed to hesitate to appoint a new high priest of Memphis, for various reasons, and thus waited almost three years to install Pasherienamun ii, the first cousin of Imhotep / Padibastet iv, at the temple of Ptah. This occurred simultaneously with the creation of new priestly office: “prophet of the son of Caesar.” However, the embalmed body of Imhotep / Padibastet ivremained unburied until 23 bce, which might indicate previous dysfunctional mutual relations between the primary and the secondary branches of the same family.