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===The Pyramid Inventor===
[[File: Memphisruins.jpg|300px|thumbnail|rightleft|Some of the Ruins Recovered from the Ancient Egyptian Capital of Memphis]]
Uncovering the background of Imhotep has proved to be a Herculean task due to the nature of Egyptian literacy. During the time that Imhotep lived – the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (2600s BC) – pharaonic culture was in one of its earliest phases and although writing had been discovered approximately 500 years earlier, its use was still not widespread. Most extant texts from the period concern religion or the government and few mention anyone by name who is not a member of the royal house. With that said, Imhotep’s deeds were so great that he was briefly mentioned in some contemporary Egyptian texts – the inscription of his name on the base of a statue of King Djoser being one of the more prominent references. <ref> Malek, Jaromir. “The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2125 BC).” In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 92</ref>
