Mythology

The god Thoth, or Djehuty as he was called by the Egyptians, was originally a moon god who eventually came to be associated with writing and knowledge and to preside over scribes and scholars of all types. The god appeared in two distinct manifestations, as an ibis and as a baboon, and though both were lunar-related, that of the ibis was primary. His standard, or that of the ibis that later represented him. appears on slate palettes of the Predynastic Period, and Thoth was clearly already

An important deity in Old Kingdom times when he is mentioned frequently in the Pyramid Texts. There, along with the sun god Re, he is one of the 'two companions’ which cross the sky (PT 128) and the gods are said to travel on the 'wing of Thoth across the ‘winding waterway’ or ‘river’ of the heavens (IT 594-96). During the Old Kingdom Thoth was also incorporated into the prevailing solar theology along wnth Osiris whom he is said to protect and serve - both directly and in the person of the deceased king who became one with Osiris. Although he is called the son of Re, the legends pertaining to Thoth repeatedly reflect this linkage with the myths of Osiris and his associated gods. The legend preserved in the ‘Contendings of Horus and Seth’ asserts that Thoth was the son of Horus and that he emerged from the forehead of Seth who had eaten the semen of Horus on some lettuce plants. A later version of the same legend has the seed of Horus appear on the head of Seth as a shining disk which I'hoth took and placed on his own head as his emblem. He was said to heal the injured eye of Horus which was associated with the Moon, and he often acted as a messenger, intercessor and conciliator between the gods.

Avion Deities

The enthroned Thoth writes with bush and scribal palette - assisted by Ramesses ff who holds a water pot and writing kit As scribe of the gods Thoth 'recorded*long reigns for the Egyptian kings and also played a purificatory role in monarchical mythology. 19th dynasty. Temple of Ramesses II Abydos.

Avian Deities

Thoth (centre) as recorder at the judgment of the deceased. Book of the Dead of lahtesnakht from Herakleopolis Magna.

The sacred ibis of Thoth. Wood and bronze statue. iMte Period. Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim.

Importantly for his mythology Thoth was said to have invented the art of writing. He was thus the scribe of the Ennead who recorded ‘the divine words’ and was responsible for all kinds of accounts and records. As ‘lord of time’ and ‘reckoner of years’ he recorded the passing of time and assigned long reigns to kings. He was the patron of all areas of knowledge, and written treatises of all kinds fell under his care as lord of the ‘houses of life’ which functioned as scriptoria and libraries which were attached to the temples. Not surprisingly then, Thoth commanded magic and secrets unknown to even the other gods, and his select followers were regarded as possessing special knowledge as is seen in a Middle Kingdom story called ‘The Magician Djedi’ set in the reign of King Khufu. Thoth’s record keeping also has afterlife associations, and in vignettes of the Book of the Dead he stands before the scales which weigh the heart of the deceased and records the verdict. This role gave Thoth a reputation for truth and integrity and is seen in the common assertion that a person had conducted his life in a manner ‘straight and true like Thoth’.

Thoth’s lunar identity remained an important aspect of his personality. The god was also often placed in juxtaposition to the sun god Re as a kind of ‘night sun’, and in the Late Period he acquired the epithet ‘silver Aten’. In the Hellenistic Period the Greeks equated him with their own god Hermes and, based on one of Thoth’s epithets, specifically as Hermes trismegistos, or ‘three times great’. The little knowm goddess Nehemetawy was the consort of Thoth, though he is more often associated with the goddess of writing, Seshat, who was variously depicted as his wife or daughter.