Phtha or Ptah

Phtha or Ptah the supreme god of the ancient Egyptians, in the first four dynasties or successions of kings, extending about 321 years. This god seems, however, in later times to have been degraded from his high position and become a secondary god. No image of this, nor indeed of any other god or goddess, is found upon the most ancient Egyptian monuments. The worship of Phtha passed from Egypt into Greece, and was altered into Hephaestus. "When, in later times," says Mr. Osburn, in his Religions of the World, "pictures and images of the gods made their appearance on the ruins of ancient Egypt, Ptah was represented as a tall youth, with handsome features, and a green complexion, denoting the swarthy, sallow hue which the burning sun of Africa had already impressed upon the skins of Phut and his descendants. He was swathed in white linen like a mummy to denote that he had been dead, but his hands had burst through the cerements, and grasped many symbols, to denote that he has risen again. This god is made the son of many divine parents, according to the later fables, both of the monuments and of the Greek authors, most of them prompted by political motives; but not on the monuments of all epochs. The image of Ptah of Memphis is enclosed in a shrine, to denote that he claimed affinity with no other god, and that his real parentage was unknown or forgotten."