Imhotep was a man of substantial intellect and accomplishment. Cited on a statue of Zoser discovered in the mid-1920s, his titles included Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, the First after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary Lord, the High Priest of [M 002 /Heliopolis], as well as Imhotep the Builder, the Sculptor and the Maker of Stone Vases.
He was also identified by the Greeks with their legendary sage and discoverer of medicine, Asclepius. Although there is no reference to Imhotep as a doctor, documents relating to Old Kingdom medicine often show the chief magician of the pharaoh's court as the nation's head practitioner. Combined with the fact that only 100 years after his death Imhotep was worshipped as a near deity with healing powers, he must have been a highly respected physician. However, he was only granted divine status when [M 001 /Persia] conquered Egypt in 525BC. His cult peaked in Greco-Roman times when the sick flocked to his temples to pray and sleep there in the belief that Imhotep would reveal remedies to their suffering in their dreams.
A man of such exalted status would likely command a luxurious tomb, but one has never been found. Saqqara is the most plausible location. However, the plateau has been used as a burial ground over millennia with tombs built over each other or appropriated by later dynasties to incorporate in an enlarged monument. It is believed that it may lie somewhere within this layer cake of history.
