When Memphis became the capital city of kings, a third [G 007/ cosmogonical] system evolved that had the city's principal god, Ptah, as the creator god. To avoid a direct rupture with the priests of Heliopolis and Hermopolis, deities from the other two creation myths were said to be contained within [I 029 / Ptah: Atum, Nun] and Naunet. Ptah conceived the world with his active faculties of intelligence (identified with the heart and personified by [I 029 / Horus]) and will (personified by [I 029 / Thoth] and identified with the tongue), represented by Atum. He then created it by his own word. Since the Memphite system was a scholarly tradition, it was especially attractive to religious theorists throughout Egyptian history.
