God Thoth - the god of wisdom and knowledge in Ancient Egypt

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

One of the most famous and greatest deities, revered by the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, was Thoth - the god of wisdom and knowledge. He is also known under the name of Atlant (since he was the successor to the wisdom of the lost Atlantis). In Greek mythology, Thoth corresponds to Hermes Trismegistus, who is the central figure of Hermeticism and the founder of alchemy. It is this most important and interesting deity that will be discussed in our article.

Life of Thoth

According to legends that have survived to this day, Thoth was the deified king of Ancient Egypt. He lived several tens of thousands of years before our era, in an era called by historians the reign of the Gods. It was also called Atlanta. It was believed that he possessed secret knowledge inherited from the civilization of the lost Atlantis.

God Thoth married Maat, the patroness of Essence and Order. His close relative was Seshat, the goddess of writing.

What did Thoth do?

It was believed that Atlas is the personal scribe of the greatgod Ra. No ancient gods were depicted as often in the society of Ra as Thoth. It was also believed that he was engaged in accounting and classification of dead souls during the judgment of Osiris. At the same time, his wife Maat determines the degree of sinfulness of the dead by weighing their hearts on special scales. In accordance with this, one can trace the belief of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt that justice in the form of Maat and wisdom in the form of Thoth should be inseparable, like husband and wife.

Besides this, Atlas was an intermediary between gods and people. In accordance with Egyptian mythology, he was considered the patron not only of wisdom, but also of writing, counting, exact sciences and scribes. In addition, Thoth was called the creator of the calendar and the lord of time. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, in his writings that have survived to this day, wrote that this god revealed numbers and letters to his people, as well as geometry and astronomy. Among the ancient Greeks, Thoth corresponds to a god named Hermes.

Moon God

At first, Thoth was associated in mythology with the image of the night luminary, but later Khnum took his place. According to modern historians, the god Thoth became the patron of wisdom precisely because of his connection with astronomy, astrology and the moon.

Historical trail

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Thoth left a noticeable mark, showing himself to be the wisest deity. Despite the fact that he was not prepared for the main story in any story

role, in all events he showed himself from the best side. So, for example, in one of the myths, the god Thoth actsmediator between Ra and Isis, without interfering in their complex relationship. At the same time, he manages to help Isis save her son Horus from the bite of a poisonous creature. Speaking in his defense, Thoth built his speech in such a way that, if necessary, it could also be interpreted as support for the god Set. Thus, the patron of wisdom also possessed an admirable talent for diplomacy.

In addition, Thoth was the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, where he supposedly integrated his ancient knowledge and hid the secrets of the civilization of the lost Atlantis.

Also, this god led the work of the most important archives of the ancient Egyptian civilization. He also patronized the very popular and well-known library of Hermopol to this day. In addition, according to the ancient Egyptians, Thoth ruled over all the languages of the world, and was also the language for another deity named Ptah.

Shape

The avatar (or the incarnation of God on earth) of Thoth was considered an ibis bird. However, today birds of this species (scientifically called forest ibises) no longer exist, as they have been replaced by other birds. Until now, researchers cannot accurately answer the question of why the ibis was chosen as the patron of wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps the ancient Egyptians endowed the bird with such powers for some traits of its character or due to the fact that its feathers were used for writing.

Another sacred animal of the god Thoth was a baboon. Today, of course, few people will agree that these monkeys are distinguished by wisdom, however, the inhabitants of the AncientThe Egyptians, however, like the Chinese and Indians, were confident in the high intelligence of the mentioned animals.

Be that as it may, the god Thoth appears in most images with the head of an ibis.

Worship

Apparently, in the times of Ancient Egypt, science was not in one of the first places in the list of state subsidies. Despite the fact that the god of wisdom Thoth was very revered, to this day the temples intended for worshiping him have practically not survived. So, only the remains of two sanctuaries have survived: Tuna-El-Gebel with a destroyed labyrinth, and Ashmunein, located ten kilometers from it, which the ancient Greeks called the "Great Hermopolis". According to numerous archaeological studies, it was Hermopolis that acted as the main place of worship of Thoth. It is likely that this is the reason why the ancient Egyptians did not build many other sanctuaries.

Attributes

The invariable attribute of Thoth, present on all his images, is the magic wand "Caduceus". According to legend, it was thanks to him that a mortal man became the god Hermes and gained access to three worlds: the Gods, the dead and the living. The wand is a rod crowned with the sun and wings, which wrap around two snakes with open mouths. "Caduceus" symbolizes the energy of Kundalini. It also reflects everything that happens in the Universe in the form of trinity processes.

Another integral attribute of Thoth is the scribe's palette, personifying his patronage of languages, writing and various exactsciences.

Emerald Tablet

According to legend, the ancient Egyptian god Thoth was the author of a huge number of books on astrology, alchemy, medicine and chemistry. It is believed that in total he wrote more than 36 thousand works, the main of which is the famous "Emerald Tablet". The ancient Egyptians believed that on a small emerald plate, the deity managed to fit all the wisdom of our Universe. According to another belief, the "Table" was discovered in the tomb of Thoth, who was buried in the Great Pyramid of Giza by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC.

Emerald plates have survived to this day, so it is not surprising that many scientists have studied and continue to study them. According to one of them, Dr. Maurice Doreal, who published a translation of the text of the Tablet in the 30s of the last century, the writing on it dates back to about 36 thousand years BC. The researcher claims that after the death of the legendary Atlantis, Thoth founded a colony in Ancient Egypt. This is confirmed by the presence on the "Tablet" of signs of the language, which, apparently, was spoken by the ancient Atlanteans.

It is also believed that part of the knowledge that the god of Egypt Thoth gave to people is concluded

in the Tarot system, the cards of which originated from golden tablets - pages in the amount of 78 pieces. Also, according to the legends of esoteric orders, 22 pictures of the Major Arcana of the Tarot are depicted on the walls of twenty-two rooms in one of the Egyptian temples, where the students-magicians were initiated into secret rituals by their mentors.

One moreproof of the existence of Hermes are the ancient papyri, describing how the pharaoh Cheops (or Khufu) was looking for the "ark of the wisdom of Thoth." This relic has survived to this day, was studied by scientists using the most modern methods, and is now stored in the Berlin Museum.