Thoth Egyptian God
Thoth, a Greek name derived from the Egyptian was considered one of the
most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon, often depicted with the head of
an ibis. His feminine counterpart was Ma'at. His chief shrine was at Khemennu,
where he was the head of the local company of gods, later renamed Hermopolis by
the Greeks (in reference to him through the Greeks' interpretation that he was
the same as Hermes) and Eshmūnźn by the Arabs. He also had shrines in Abydos,
Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet,
Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.
He was considered the heart and tongue of Ra as well as the means by which Ra's
will was translated into speech. He has also been likened to the Logos of Plato
and the mind of God. (see The All) In the Egyptian mythology, he has played many
vital and prominent roles, including being one of the two gods (the other being
Ma'at) who stood on either side of Ra's boat. He has further been involved in
arbitration, magic, writing, science, and the judging of the dead.
Mythology
Thoth has played a prominent role in many of the Egyptian myths. Displaying his
role as arbitrator, he had overseen the three epic battles between good and
evil. All three battles are fundamentally the same and belong to different
periods. The first battle took place between Ra and Apep, the second between
Heru-Bekhutet and Set, and the third between Horus, the son of Osiris, and Set.
In each instance, the former god represented good while the latter represented
evil. If one god was seriously injured, Thoth would heal them to prevent either
from overtaking the other.
Thoth was also prominent in the Osiris myth, being of great aid to Isis. After
Isis gathered together the pieces of Osiris' dismembered body, he gave her the
words to resurrect him so she could be impregnated and bring forth Horus, named
for his uncle. When Horus was slain, Thoth gave the formulae to resurrect him as
well. Similar to God speaking the words to create the heavens and Earth in
Judeo-Christian mythology, Thoth, being the god who always speaks the words that
fulfill the wishes of Ra, spoke the words that created the heavens and Earth in
Egyptian mythology.
Mythology also accredits him with the creation of the 365 day calendar.
Originally, according to the myth, the year was only 360 days long and Nut with
sterility during these days, unable to bear children. Thoth gambled with Khonsu,
the moon, for 1/72nd of its light (360/72 = 5), or 5 days, and won. During these
5 days, she gave birth to Kheru-ur (Horus the Elder, Face of Heaven), Osiris,
Set, Isis, and Nepthys.
In the Ogdoad cosmogony myth, Thoth gave birth to Ra, Atum, Nefertum, and Khepri
by laying an egg while in the form of an ibis, or later as a goose laying a
golden egg.
History
Thoth, sitting on his throne.He was originally the deification of the moon in
the Ogdoad belief system. Initially, in that system, the moon had been seen to
be the eye of Horus, the sky god, which had been semi-blinded (thus darker) in a
fight against Set, the other eye being the sun. However, over time it began to
be considered separately, becoming a lunar deity in its own right, and was said
to have been another son of Ra. As the crescent moon strongly resembles the
curved beak of the ibis, this separate deity was named Djehuty (i.e. Thoth),
meaning ibis.
Thoth became associated with the Moon, due to the Ancient Egyptians observation
that Baboons (sacred to Thoth) 'sang' to the moon at night.
The Moon not only provides light at night, allowing the time to still be
measured without the sun, but its phases and prominence gave it a significant
importance in early astrology/astronomy. The cycles of the moon also organized
much of Egyptian society's civil, and religious, rituals, and events.
Consequently, Thoth gradually became seen as a god of wisdom, magic, and the
measurement, and regulation, of events, and of time. He was thus said to be the
secretary and counsellor of Ra, and with Ma'at (truth/order) stood next to Ra on
the nightly voyage across the sky, Ra being a sun god.
Thoth became credited by the ancient Egyptians as the inventor of writing, and
was also considered to have been the scribe of the underworld, and the moon
became occasionally considered a separate entity, now that Thoth had less
association with it, and more with wisdom. For this reason Thoth was universally
worshipped by ancient Egyptian Scribes. Many scribes had a painting or a picture
of Thoth in their "office". Likewise, one of the symbols for scribes was that of
the ibis.
In art, Thoth was usually depicted with the head of an ibis, deriving from his
name, and the curve of the ibis' beak, which resembles the crescent moon.
Sometimes, he was depicted as a baboon holding up a crescent moon, as the baboon
was seen as a nocturnal, and intelligent, creature. The association with baboons
led to him occasionally being said to have as a consort Astennu, one of the
(male) baboons at the place of judgement in the underworld, and on other
occasions, Astennu was said to be Thoth himself.
During the late period of Egyptian history a cult of Thoth gained prominence,
due to its main centre, Khnum (Hermopolis Magna), also becoming the capital, and
millions of dead ibis were mummified and buried in his honour. The rise of his
cult also led to his cult seeking to adjust mythology to give Thoth a greater
role.
Thoth was inserted in many tales as the wise counsel and persuader, and his
association with learning, and measurement, led him to be connected with Seshat,
the earlier deification of wisdom, who was said to be his daughter, or variably
his wife. Thoth's qualities also led to him being identified by the Greeks with
their closest matching god - Hermes, with whom Thoth was eventually combined, as
Hermes Trismegistus, also leading to the Greeks naming Thoth's cult centre as
Hermopolis, meaning city of Hermes.
It is also viewed that Thoth was the God of Scribe and not a messenger. Anubis
was viewed as the messenger of the gods, as he travelled in and out of the
Underworld, to the presence of the gods, and to humans, as well. Some call this
fusion Hermanubis. It is in more favor that Thoth was a record keeper, and not
the messenger.
There is also an Egyptian pharaoh of the Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt named
Djehuty (Thoth) after him, and who reigned for three years.
Thoth in more recent times
One of the most popular and cited works on the Tarot was connected to this
deity. Written by the occultist Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth is a
philosophical text on the usage of Tarot and, most notably, Crowley's own
created Tarot Deck, the Thoth Tarot which he also referred to as The Book of
Thoth, where the name is taken from a "non-existent" (translations from papyrus
of an actual book of thoth DO exist, titled 'The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth'
by Jasnow and Zauzich) book in Egyptian mythology, believed to contain ancient
knowledge originally brought to man by this deity. Crowley commissioned Lady
Frieda Harris to assist him in painting the Thoth Deck.
A text entitled The Emerald Tablets of Thoth-The-Atlantean has been claimed to
have been translated by a man named Doreal. The introduction claims them to be
written by an Atlantean Priest-King named Thoth, who settled a colony in Egypt
after Atlantis sunk. Doreal further claims the texts are 36,000 years old.
Regardless of the authenticity of the text, it contains much Hermetic and
Egyptian symbolism that Doreal misses.