Invented writing and gave it to humanity — a gift Plato has an Egyptian king reject
The Phaedrus myth: writing would breed forgetfulness, not memory.
Myth · Egyptian
Thoth
Egyptian mythology — god of writing, wisdom and the moon
The ibis-headed scribe of the gods: inventor of writing, keeper of the calendar, master of magic and measurer of time. He records the verdict at the weighing of the heart, arbitrates the quarrels of the gods, and wins five extra days from the moon so that Nut can bear her children. The Greeks identified him with Hermes, and as Hermes Trismegistus he became the supposed author of a whole occult library.
How to spot them
- ▸A man with the head of an ibis, holding a scribe's palette and reed pen
- ▸Also appears as a baboon, often crowned with a crescent and lunar disc
- ▸Stands beside the balance in the judgement hall, writing down the result
- ▸Quiz clue: 'Hermopolis', 'the Ogdoad', 'lord of divine words', 'senet with the moon'
Stories & episodes
Won five extra days from the moon at draughts so the sky goddess could give birth
The epagomenal days that make the 365-day year; Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis and Nephthys are born on them.
Restored the eye that Set tore out, and healed the child in the marshes of a scorpion sting
Hence his role as the great magician and physician of the gods.
Records the verdict when the heart is weighed against the feather of truth
He is the notary of the underworld tribunal, Book of the Dead spell 125.
Arbitrated the eighty-year lawsuit between the murdered king's son and his uncle
In the Contendings he acts as scribe and voice of the tribunal.
Identified with Hermes, he was credited with a library of Greek occult treatises
The Hermetica of Hermes Trismegistus, 'thrice-greatest'.
His sacred birds were mummified in millions in the catacombs of Tuna el-Gebel and Saqqara
Votive offerings from pilgrims to his cult.
Quick-fire facts
- •His Egyptian name is Djehuty; his cult centre was Khemenu, called Hermopolis Magna by the Greeks
- •Hermopolis was home to the Ogdoad, the eight primeval gods of chaos
- •His sacred animals are the sacred ibis and the baboon
- •He is 'lord of divine words' — the Egyptian term medu netjer gives us 'hieroglyphs'
- •His consort is variously Seshat, goddess of writing and measurement, or Nehmetawy
- •The Greeks equated him with Hermes, producing Hermes Trismegistus and the Hermetic corpus
- •As moon god he regulates the calendar; the five epagomenal days complete the Egyptian year
- •The Book of Thoth is a late Egyptian text as well as a name later borrowed for tarot decks
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Richard H. Wilkinson — The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
- Geraldine Pinch — Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt