GODDESSES

Pu’gu 255
abducted as an infant from his cradle by a huge
talon or claw, with the implication that the
abduction was instigated by an adversary from
the underworld, perhaps the family of Gwawl, a
rejected suitor of Rhiannon. Pryderi was found
in a stable and rescued by Teirnyon, who
brought the child up as his son. Eventually the
true parents of Pryderi were identified and he
was returned to his family. His consort is Cigfa
and he succeeded Pwyll to the title ‘Lord of
Dyfed.’
PTAH
ORIGIN Egyptian. Creator god and god of
craftsmen.
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 3000 BC, possibly
earlier, until the end of Egyptian history
circa AD 400. SYNONYMS Ptah-Nun; Ptah-
Naunet; Khery-bakef.
CENTER(S) OF CULT chiefly at Memphis, but with
sanctuaries throughout the Nile valley.
ART REFERENCES sculptures, relief carvings, wall
paintings, papyrus illustrations.
LITERARY SOURCES Pyramid Texts, etc.; the
Shabaka Stone.
Ptah is the patron deity of Memphis in Lower
Egypt at the southerly approach to the Nile
delta. With ATUM, the sun god of Heliopolis,
he is the main rival claimant to seniority as a
creator god in the Egyptian pantheon. His consort
is the lion-goddess SAKHMET and, by implication
only, his son is NEFERTUM, the god of the
primeval lotus flower. Ptah is depicted in human
form wearing a closely fitting robe with only his
arms free. His most distinctive features are the
invariable skull-cap exposing only his face and
ears, and the was or rod of dominion which he
holds, consisting of a staff surmounted by the
ankh symbol of life. He is otherwise symbolized
by his sacred animal, the bull.
According to the genealogy laid down by the
Memphis priests, Ptah upstaged Atum as the
“father of the gods.” He generated not only
Atum but the whole Heliopolis pantheon (see
ENNEAD) by thinking and speaking the cosmos
into existence. All life and matter was generated
by the heart and the tongue of Ptah. In
this cosmogony, NUN represents the amorphous
primeval matter out of which Ptah generated
himself as a bisexual entity, the maleness of
which is Ptah-Nun and the femaleness Ptah-
Naunet. Ptah is occasionally known by the title
Khery-bakef, meaning “he who is under his
tree,” suggesting that he was syncretized with a
older local tree god at Memphis whose symbol
is the moringa tree.
In addition to his role as creator god, Ptah is
also the patron deity of craftsmen and his presence
is often denoted in art by dwarfish craftsmen
who work at various trades including
jewelry. Ptah is envisaged as molding mankind
out of base materials. In Greco-Roman times he
became identified with the Greek god of
smithies, HEPHAISTOS.
Pu Ma
Generic name for deities. Polynesian. The title
given to any god of high rank.
Pudicita
Goddess of chastity. Roman. Depicted as a
matronly lady, her cult fell from popularity as
the Roman Empire veered increasingly toward
decadence.
Pu’gu
Sun god. Yukaghir [eastern Siberia]. A spirit
associated with justice and honorable living who
punishes those who are evil or violent.