Editing Imhotep (section)

===Post-Alexander period===
The Upper Egyptian [[Famine Stela]], which dates from the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic period]] (305–30&nbsp;BC), bears an inscription containing a legend about a famine lasting seven years during the reign of [[Djoser]]. Imhotep is credited with having been instrumental in ending it. One of his priests explained the connection between the god [[Khnum]] and the rise of the [[Nile]] to the Pharaoh, who then had a dream in which the Nile god spoke to him, promising to end the drought.<ref>{{cite web |title=The famine stele on the island of Sehel |publisher=Reshafim.org.il |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/famine_stele.htm |access-date=2015-06-23}}</ref>

A [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]] papyrus from the temple of [[Tebtunis]], dating to the 2nd&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD, preserves a long story about Imhotep.<ref>{{cite conference |author-link=Kim Ryholt |first=Kim |last=Ryholt |year=2009 |title=The Life of Imhotep? |conference=<!-- Actes du -->IXe Congrès International des Études Démotiques |editor1-first=G. |editor1-last=Widmer |editor2-first=D. |editor2-last=Devauchelle |series=Bibliothèque d'étude |volume=147 |place=Le Caire, Egypt |publisher=Institut français d'archéologie orientale |pages=305–315}}</ref> The Pharaoh Djoser plays a prominent role in the story, which also mentions Imhotep's family; his father the god Ptah, his mother [[Khereduankh]], and his younger sister [[Renpetneferet]]. At one point Djoser desires Renpetneferet, and Imhotep disguises himself and tries to rescue her. The text also refers to the royal tomb of Djoser. Part of the legend includes an anachronistic battle between the Old Kingdom and the Assyrian armies where Imhotep fights an [[Assyria]]n sorceress in a duel of magic.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Kim Ryholt |first=Kim |last=Ryholt |chapter=The Assyrian invasion of Egypt in Egyptian literary tradition |title=Assyria and Beyond |publisher=Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten |year=2004 |isbn=9062583113 |page=501}}</ref>

As an instigator of Egyptian culture, Imhotep's idealized image lasted well into the [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman period]]. In the Ptolemaic period, the Egyptian priest and historian [[Manetho]] credited him with inventing the method of a stone-dressed building during Djoser's reign, although he was not the first to actually build with stone. Stonewalling, flooring, [[Lintel (architecture)|lintels]], and jambs had appeared sporadically during the [[Early Dynastic Period of Egypt|Archaic Period]], even though it is true that a building the size of the step pyramid made entirely out of stone had never before been constructed. Before Djoser, Kings were buried in [[mastaba]] tombs.