Egyptian History:
If you know the name of any non-royal Egyptian, it is probaby Imhotep. He was a Renaissance Man. His many trades included: high priest, architect, doctor, vizier, and scribe. Imhotep was born poor but rose to fame during the reign of the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser. He became Djoser's High Priest (the highest station below Pharaoh), and he lived long enough to serve the three Pharoahs following Djoser: Sekhemkhet, Khaba, and Huni.
It was for Djoser that Imhotep designed Egypt's first pyramid. This pyramid wasn't the smooth-sided affair most of you are used to. Imhotep's pyramid was influenced by the mastaba, Egypt's then-current burial structure. It was Imhotep's thought that the Pharaoh deserved a grander burial structure than everybody else, so he was inspired to stack mastabas on top of one another as a tomb fit for the Pharoah. Thus, the Egyptian step pyramid was born at Saqqara. He also came up with the architectural theories that made the design and construction of the Pyramids of Giza possible.
After his death, a cult began to worship him. He was deified as a god of healing and was worshipped by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
Stargate SG-1:
Imhotep also makes an appearance in Stargate SG-1's fifth season episode, "The Warrior," where he was played by Rick Worthy. "The Warrior" was a good episode, but it was obvious that the writers were just looking for an Egyptian name. At no time were any of Imhotep's professions mentioned. Two parallels were drawn between the Goa'uld Imhotep and the Egyptian Imhotep.
- The symbol marking his Jaffa was a step pyramid (upside down).
- He trained his Jaffa in a martial art known as mastaba.
However, the second parallel only counts as half because as explained above the mastaba is a burial structure and the precursor to the step pyramid, not a martial art.