Thoth

God of Wisdom, Time, Writing and the Moon

Cult Center: Eshmunen or Hermopolis.

Attributes: Thoth was a moon god who played an important role in the Osiris legend and the judgment of the dead in the Hall of Ma'at. Thoth was said to be mighty in knowledge and divine speech. The inventer of spoken and written language. As the lord of books he was the scribe of the gods and patron of all scribes. He is credited with inventing astronomy, geometry, and medicine. Thoth was the measurer of the earth and the counter of the stars, the keeper and recorder of all knowledge. It was Thoth who was believed to have written important religious texts such as The Book of the Dead. In this text, he appears in the Hall of Ma'at as a scribe holding a writing reed and palette to record the results of the weighing of the deceased's heart against the feather of Ma'at.

In his last (of his three) incarnation, he left the writings known to modern occultists as the Emerald Tablets.

The Book of Thoth had two spells in it. If you read the first spell aloud, you would be able to understand every beast and bird, and summon the fishes in the sea. If you read the second spell, you could bring the dead to life. Prince Setna, the son of a Pharoah, knew the book was hidden in a royal tomb in the City of the Dead. With his brother Anhurerau, he broke into the tomb of Neferkeptah. When they found the burial chamber, they saw the mummy of Neferkaptah, and his wife and young son. The wife spoke to them, and warned them against taking the book of Thoth. She said that her husband had stolen the Book from Thoth, and had read the spells, but Thoth was angry and had drowned her and her son in the Nile, and Neferkeptah had then killed himelf. But Setna ignored her and moved towards the Book. The the muumy of Neferkaptah sat up and said "Play me at four games of draughts. If you win, you can take the Book." Setna was terrified, but agreed. He played the first game, and lost. He started to sink into the ground, up to his ankles. Then he lost the next game, and sunk up to his hips. As he was losing the third game, he shouted to his brother, "Run and fetch my magic amulets. Only they can save me!" He then sank into the ground up to his chin. His brother ran out of the tomb. Setna played the fourth game as slowly as he could, trying desparately not to lose, but the muumy was too good at draughts. Just as he had nearly lost for the final time, his brother Anhurerau returned with the amulets, and put them on Setna's head. The spell was broken, and Setna grabbed the Book of Thoth, and ran as hard as he could out of the tomb.

As Setna tried to read the Book, he saw a beautiful woman walking past. He fell in love with her, and tried to persuade her to marry him. She demanded that he kill his existing wife and children. Completely besotted with her, he agreed. When he had done this, she vanished, and he was apalled at what he had done. But he discovered that it was all a dream. He realized that he was being punished for stealing the Book of Thoth, and next time it might not be a dream, so he returned the Book to the tomb of Neferkeptah and resealed the burial chamber. Ever since then, no one has seen the Book of Thoth.

The magic amulet may have been a scarab. The scarab or dung beetle makes a ball of dung by rolling it along the ground, and then lays its eggs in it. The Ancient Egyptians imagined a scarab rolling the sun across the sky. 

Representation: A man with the head of an Ibis. An ibis or an ape. A dog faced ape. He is often seen wearing a lunar disk and cresant on his head or the Atef crown.

Relations: Self conceived at the beginning of time. Husband of Ma'at. Brother and some times husband of Seshat.

Copyright © 2010 Tim Stouse
Last modified: December 10, 2010

All 3rd Party Copyrights © are acknowledged.
Material reproduced here is for educational and research purposes only.