The mythology of Ancient Egypt is interesting and it is connected to a greater extent with numerous gods. People for each important event or natural phenomenon came up with their patron, and they differed in external signs and.

Major gods of ancient Egypt

The religion of the country is distinguished by the presence of numerous beliefs, which is directly reflected in the appearance of the gods, which in most cases are presented as a hybrid of man and animal. The Egyptian gods and their meaning were of great importance to people, which is confirmed by numerous temples, statues and images. Among them, one can single out the main deities who were responsible for important aspects of the life of the Egyptians.

Egyptian god Amon Ra

In ancient times, this deity was depicted as a man with a ram's head, or completely in the form of an animal. In his hands he holds a cross with a noose, which symbolizes life and immortality. It united the gods of Ancient Egypt Amon and Ra, so it has the power and influence of both. He was supportive of people, helping them in difficult situations, and therefore was presented as a caring and fair creator of all things.

And Amon illuminated the earth, moving across the sky along the river, and at night changing to the underground Nile in order to return to their home. People believed that every day at exactly midnight he fights with a huge snake. Amon Ra was considered the main patron of the pharaohs. In mythology, you can see that the cult of this god is constantly changing its significance, then falling, then rising.

Egyptian god Osiris

In ancient Egypt, the deity was represented in the form of a man wrapped in a shroud, which added to the resemblance to a mummy. Osiris was the ruler of the underworld, so a crown always crowned his head. According to the mythology of Ancient Egypt, this was the first king of this country, therefore, in the hands are symbols of power - a whip and a scepter. His skin is black and this color symbolizes rebirth and new life. Osiris is always accompanied by a plant, such as a lotus, a vine and a tree.

The Egyptian god of fertility is multifaceted, meaning Osiris performed many duties. He was revered as the patron of vegetation and the productive forces of nature. Osiris was considered the main patron and protector of people, and also the lord of the underworld, who judged dead people. Osiris taught people to cultivate the land, grow grapes, treat various diseases and perform other important work.

Egyptian God Anubis

The main feature of this deity is the body of a man with the head of a black dog or jackal. This animal was not chosen at all by chance, the thing is that the Egyptians often saw it in cemeteries, which is why they were associated with the afterlife. In some images, Anubis is represented entirely in the form of a wolf or a jackal, which lies on a chest. In ancient Egypt, the jackal-headed god of the dead had several important responsibilities.

1. He protected the graves, so people often carved prayers to Anubis on the tombs.
2. He took part in the embalming of gods and pharaohs. Many depictions of the mummification process featured a priest wearing a dog mask.
3. Guide of dead souls to the afterlife. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that Anubis escorted people to the court of Osiris.

He weighed the heart of a dead person to determine whether the soul was worthy to go to the afterlife. A heart is placed on the scales on one side, and the goddess Maat in the form of an ostrich feather on the other.

egyptian god set

They represented a deity with a human body and the head of a mythical animal, which combines a dog and a tapir. Another distinguishing feature is the heavy wig. Seth is the brother of Osiris and, in the understanding of the ancient Egyptians, is the god of evil. He was often depicted with the head of a sacred animal - a donkey. Seth was considered the personification of war, drought and death. All troubles and misfortunes were attributed to this god of Ancient Egypt. He was not renounced only because he was considered the main protector of Ra during the night fight with the serpent.

Egyptian God Horus

This deity has several incarnations, but the most famous is a man with a falcon's head, on which there is certainly a crown. Its symbol is the sun with outstretched wings. The Egyptian god of the sun during the fight lost his eye, which became an important sign in mythology. It is a symbol of wisdom, clairvoyance and eternal life. In ancient Egypt, the Eye of Horus was worn as an amulet.

According to ancient beliefs, Horus was revered as a predatory deity who dug into his victim with falcon claws. There is another myth where he moves across the sky in a boat. The sun god Horus helped resurrect Osiris, for which he received the throne in gratitude and became the ruler. He was patronized by many gods, teaching magic and various wisdom.

Egyptian God Geb

Several original images found by archaeologists have survived to this day. Geb is the patron of the earth, which the Egyptians sought to convey in an external image: the body is elongated, like a plain, arms raised up - the personification of the slopes. In ancient Egypt, he was represented with his wife Nut, the patroness of heaven. Although there are many drawings, there is not much information about the powers and purposes of Geb. The god of the earth in Egypt was the father of Osiris and Isis. There was a whole cult, which included people who worked in the fields to protect themselves from hunger and ensure a good harvest.

Egyptian God Thoth

The deity was represented in two guises and in ancient times, it was an ibis bird with a long curved beak. He was considered a symbol of dawn and a harbinger of abundance. In the late period, Thoth was represented as a baboon. There are gods of Ancient Egypt who live among people and include the One who was the patron of wisdom and helped everyone to learn science. It was believed that he taught the Egyptians how to write, count, and also created a calendar.

Thoth is the god of the moon and through its phases he was associated with various astronomical and astrological observations. This was the reason for the transformation into a deity of wisdom and magic. Thoth was considered the founder of numerous rites of religious content. In some sources, he is ranked among the deities of time. In the pantheon of the gods of ancient Egypt, Thoth took the place of the scribe, the vizier of Ra and the secretary of court affairs.

Egyptian god Aten

The deity of the solar disk, which was represented with rays in the form of palms, stretching to the earth and people. This is what distinguished him from other humanoid gods. The most famous image is presented on the back of the throne of Tutankhamen. There is an opinion that the cult of this deity influenced the formation and development of Jewish monotheism. This sun god in Egypt combines male and female features at the same time. In ancient times, another term was used - "silver of the Aten", which denoted the moon.

Egyptian god Ptah

The deity was represented as a man who, unlike others, did not wear a crown, and his head was covered with a headdress that looked like a helmet. Like other gods of ancient Egypt associated with the earth (Osiris and Sokar), Ptah is clothed in a shroud, which bared only his hands and head. External similarity led to the fact that there was a merger into one common deity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. The Egyptians considered him a beautiful god, but many archaeological finds refute this opinion, since portraits have been found where he is represented in the form of a dwarf trampling animals underfoot.

Ptah is the patron of the city of Memphis, where there was a myth that he created everything on earth with the power of thought and the word, so he was considered the creator. He had a connection with the earth, the burial place of the dead and sources of fertility. Another purpose of Ptah is the Egyptian god of art, which is why he was considered a blacksmith and sculptor of mankind, and also the patron of artisans.

Egyptian God Apis

The Egyptians had many sacred animals, but the most revered was the bull - Apis. He had a real incarnation and he was credited with 29 signs that were known only to the priests. According to them, the birth of a new god in the form of a black bull was determined, and this was a famous holiday of Ancient Egypt. The bull was settled in the temple and was surrounded by divine honors throughout his life. Once a year, before the start of agricultural work, Apis was harnessed, and the pharaoh plowed a furrow. This provided a good harvest in the future. After the death of the bull, they solemnly buried it.

Apis, the god of Egypt, patronizing fertility, was depicted with a snow-white skin with several black spots, and their number was strictly determined. He is presented with different necklaces, which corresponded to different festive rites. Between the horns is the solar disk of the god Ra. Apis could also take on a human form with the head of a bull, but such a representation was common in the Late Period.

pantheon of egyptian gods

From the moment the ancient civilization was born, belief in the Higher powers also arose. The pantheon was inhabited by gods who had different abilities. They did not always treat people favorably, so the Egyptians built temples in their honor, brought gifts and prayed. The pantheon of the gods of Egypt has more than two thousand names, but less than a hundred of them can be attributed to the main group. Some deities were worshiped only in certain regions or tribes. Another important point is that the hierarchy could change depending on the dominant political force.

That- god of wisdom, knowledge, patron of scribes, archives and libraries. He taught the Egyptians to write and count, created a calendar. He was depicted with a scribe's palette in his hand and with the head of the sacred ibis bird. Ibis flew to Egypt in the spring, during the flood of the Nile, so Thoth is associated with the spring awakening of nature. In one of the myths, he returns home the goddess of life-giving moisture, Tefnut, who left Egypt, after which spring comes. (See Tefnut for the plot.) Sometimes Thoth appears in the form of his sacred animal, the baboon.

The Egyptian god Thoth, at the very beginning of his worship, was the left eye of the god Horus, which was damaged in the battle with the Egyptian deity Set. During the period of the Old Kingdom, this god acquires the features of an independent god, whom some even called the son of the sun god Ra.

In mythology, the god of wisdom, Thoth, was considered the patron of writing and education. In addition to being the inventor of writing, the deity Thoth was the founder of a large number of rites of religious content. Simultaneously with the god Heh, he was listed as a deity of time. The place of Thoth in the pantheon of the gods of Ancient Egypt is the scribe, the vizier Ra, the court secretary.

Places of veneration of Thoth

The most basic place for worshiping the ancient Egyptian god Thoth is Shmun, or, in other words, Eshmunen. The cult of Thoth becomes popular after Hermopolis began to play the most important role in the politics of Egypt.

Thoth or Djehuti, in Egyptian mythology, the god of the moon, wisdom, counting and writing, the patron of sciences, scribes, sacred books, the creator of the calendar. The goddess of truth and order, Maat, was considered the wife of Thoth. The sacred animals of Thoth were the ibis and the baboon, and therefore the god was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, sometimes with papyrus and a writing instrument in his hands. The Egyptians associated the arrival of the ibis-Thoth with the seasonal floods of the Nile. When Thoth returned Tefnut (or Hathor, as one of the myths says) to Egypt, nature flourished.

He, identified with the moon, was considered the heart of the god Ra and was depicted behind the Pa-sun, since he was reputed to be his night substitute. Thoth was credited with creating the entire intellectual life of Egypt. "Lord of time", he divided it into years, months, days and kept track of them.

Wise Thoth wrote down the birthdays and deaths of people, kept chronicles, and also created writing and taught the Egyptians counting, writing, mathematics, medicine and other sciences.

It is known that his daughter or sister (wife) was the goddess of writing Seshat; Thoth's attribute is the scribe's palette. Under his patronage were all the archives and the famous library of Hermopol, the center of the cult of Thoth. God "ruled all languages" and was himself considered the language of the god Ptah. As a vizier and scribe of the gods, Thoth was present at the trial of Osiris and recorded the results of weighing the soul of the deceased.

Since Thoth participated in the justification of Osiris and gave the order for his embalming, he took part in the funeral ritual of every deceased Egyptian and led him to the kingdom of the dead. On this basis, Thoth is identified with the Greek herald of the gods, Hermes, who was considered a psychopomp ("leader of the soul"). He was also often depicted with a baboon, one of his sacred animals. The Greeks identified the god Thoth with Hermes.

The creator god Thoth, whose cult originated in Hermopolis, gradually acquired new important functions: he became the god of the moon, as well as the patron of writing, education and science, counting and measures. All the knowledge that man possesses came from Thoth.

Thoth's main virtue is his intellect, so his greatest virtue is that he is always wise and knowledgeable. No wonder the gods appointed him their secretary and herald. The ancient origin of Thoth is indicated by a legend according to which he was born from the skull of Set. However, oddly enough, Thoth did not adopt any of the shortcomings of this formidable god. He does not intrigue for selfish reasons, but on the contrary, he constantly works to ensure that the world remains the way Ra wanted it to be. He also travels on a boat with Ra, and this is the only thing that brings him closer to Set. As the god of the moon, he was considered the night reflection of Ra, his "herald in heaven." In Hermopolis, Thoth also became a demiurge who created the world by the power of reason alone. And the Egyptians believed that the order in the universe is so perfect because Thoth is a wise god who "numerates all things."

His images

He is known mainly in two guises. Since the era of the Old Kingdom, it has been depicted as an ibis, an amazing white or red bird with a long, slightly curved beak, well known to the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile and the Delta. Images of Thoth in the form of a baboon belong to a later period. Anthropomorphic images of the god with the head of an ibis are quite common, but to see Thoth with the head of a baboon in Egyptian art is much less common.

Myths about Thoth

Texts that tell about Thoth associate him with wisdom, knowledge and, in a broader sense, with the structure of the heavenly and earthly worlds. It is not surprising that the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, and especially its prominent rulers, sought to imitate the mind and practical skills of Thoth. Therefore, Thoth can rightly be called a model god for mortals!

He created the world with one word. This is how the Germanic cosmogony describes the beginning of the world. But in the created world it was necessary to put things in order! Thoth's heart is full of intelligence. It is to this god that mortals owe the status quo. In the difficult task of ordering the universe, Thoth was helped by Sia, personified knowledge.

For such a complex undertaking, Thoth invented language. With the help of the word, which was created rational, the world was created by the will of God. The most complex celestial mechanics began to operate. Wise in knowledge, He perfected every link in the system. No wonder he is called "the one who calculates all things"!

It remained to write down the act of creation and the arrangement of the world, so that nothing would ever be lost. And he invented writing. He is "the one who wrote first." As the custodian of the greatest knowledge, he became a mentor to scribes.

But what can a world without justice become? Maat, the only true justice that lives among the gods and in the hearts of men, was a necessary addition to this world. Therefore, Thoth "wrote Maat."

In everything - knowledge, organization, justice - He was a real role model, which guided all people, starting with the pharaoh himself and his assistants.

Duties of Thoth

He occupied a place of honor among other gods. He not only participated in the divine court - he was his secretary, carefully recording all decisions. In addition, he was appointed keeper of the seals of the court. And finally, Thoth often intervened in feuds between the gods. The role he played in settling the dispute between two sworn enemies, Set and Horus, earned him deep respect. He is a talented arbiter, "one who managed to separate two combatants", which is an admirable feat, given the hatred Seth had for his nephew Horus.

But He also sat in another court: the one that determined the virtue of the hearts of the dead - the Last Judgment! It was Thoth who wrote down the results of the psychostasis (weighing of the soul) performed in the presence of Maat. As soon as the little goddess of truth proclaimed her decision, and Thoth entered it into his writing tablets, the ibis god, together with Anubis, endowed the deceased with new breath ... Of course, if the latter was considered worthy of life in the kingdom of Osiris! In this function, Thoth was called the author of the sacred "Book of Breath", passages from which the priests read during funeral ceremonies.

Thoth, divine vizier

Anyone with any knowledge of the mythology and history of Ancient Egypt must have already noticed the similarity between the order that existed in the human world and the order in the world of the gods! Of course, one served as a model for the other. The only question is which one...

Didn't the pharaoh reign supreme over Ancient Egypt, like Ra reigning in heaven?.. But the sovereign cannot keep track of the vast country alone, so the pharaoh was helped in everything by his faithful servant - the vizier. And the tasks of the latter can quite rightly be compared with the functions of Thoth. Just as the vizier was the right hand of the pharaoh, Thoth was the right hand of Ra. The pharaoh and the vizier, like Thoth and Ra, divided power over the state among themselves, and the essence of this division was that the ruler (both on earth and in heaven) intervened only in case of a serious crisis. And Thoth, like a vizier, solved all the daily affairs and troubles associated with managing the world. He was a faithful and wise adviser to the king, and could always offer his master some ideas and suggest possible solutions to problems.

In addition, he was instructed to personally monitor the execution of all decisions of the divine court, as well as to ensure that every member of the pantheon was informed about them. In a word, he was an indispensable assistant to the supreme god. I must say that Ra very quickly realized this and appreciated his merits. As a result, Thoth at night became what Ra was during the day: light!

Books are the gift of Thoth

The ancient Egyptians considered Thoth, the inventor of writing, the author of most of the writings. From their point of view, such an abundance of knowledge could only be divine. In addition, many believed that all these books - both papyrus scrolls and texts carved on the walls of temples - were bestowed on mankind by Thoth himself, who deliberately left them on the floor of several sanctuaries. It happened many, many years ago...

Thoth - "night Ra"

Indeed, by the will of Ra, Thoth became the god of the moon. The reason for this lies in the events that took place at the dawn of time. The great, but already aged, demiurge Ra was tired of the endless human strife and decided to retire. He rose high into the sky, illuminating it only during the day, and at night, going down to the underworld.

So the earth lost light for half the time, and night appeared for the first time. Ra, realizing the problem, turned to Thoth: “You will take my place, become my deputy. You will be called Thoth Occupying the Place of Ra. You will encircle both skies with your beauty and light.” And the moon filled the night with the light that solar Ra deigned to give her. In addition, Thoth, who marked days and nights, very early began to be considered the inventor of the calendar. But in this matter he played a trick on people, for which they sometimes reproached him.

Joking Calendar

Thoth seems to have been less successful in creating the calendar than in his other endeavors. As a moon god, he "counted the years" and "divided the years and months". Once, in a game of senet, he won five epagomenal days, which he immediately placed at the very end of the year, thanks to which the goddess Nut was finally able to give birth to her children. But all the complex calculations and tricky tricks of Thoth soon led to significant inconsistencies in the calendar, which caused a lot of trouble for unfortunate mortals.

The game senet, which came into vogue in the New Kingdom, resembled checkers and backgammon at the same time. The game was played on a board with thirty cells, on which the checkers were moved, throwing the dice in turn.

Wise bore!

Undoubtedly, Thoth was a very wise god. But his intellectual superiority soon began to annoy all the gods of the pantheon. With his solemn speeches and grandiloquent style, Thoth terribly annoyed his listeners. And although the gods greatly respected the assistant Ra for his extensive knowledge, sometimes they could not resist remarks. So, once Isis was worried about the health of her son, Horus. She turned to Thoth for advice, and he, instead of answering directly, embarked on endless abstract reasoning. Isis, annoyed, interrupted him: “He, how wise your heart is, but how slow your decisions are!”

imperfect calendar

To determine the beginning of the year, the Egyptians looked to the main event in their lives: the flood of the Nile, which began every year at about the same time - around July 20th. Almost simultaneously with the rising of the water, the star Sothis rose in the sky in the early morning (which remained below the horizon for long weeks), and this easily defined day became the beginning of a year, the duration of which was three hundred and sixty-five days. But the Egyptians did not take into account that the Earth makes a revolution around the Sun in 365.24 days. Pretty soon the discrepancy between the official and the natural year became very large, and every four years it increased by one day, so that in a hundred and twenty years it reached one month! And only after one thousand four hundred and fifty-six years of waiting, the actual year would again coincide with the calculated one! The problem was solved by the Romans, who invented the leap year.

Thoth, Horus and the Eye of Wadjet

This is what happens when mathematicians tamper with myths! After Set killed his brother Osiris, the young Horus rebelled against him to avenge his father. But Seth immediately tore out his eye, which he divided into six parts. God Thoth, the patron saint of healers, came to the aid of Horus and healed the injured eye, but how! He just spat on him! The image of the six parts of the eye of Horus (eye wadzhet) was traditionally used by the ancient Egyptians to write six fractions from 1/2 to 1/64.

Thoth's family ties

Thoth, like any demiurge, had no parents, as the Germanic cosmogony claimed. However, in other places it was believed that he was born by Set. And it was an amazing event! He was born in the midst of the confrontation between Set and Horus. Seth really liked the salad. Knowing about his weakness, Horus mixed his seed into Seth's favorite food, and the latter swallowed it in an instant. From this homosexual fertilization, Thoth was born, emerging from the forehead of Set.

The goddess Nekhmetaui was sometimes considered the wife of Thoth, and the young Hornefer (often mentioned in the Late Period) was considered the son. However, first of all, Thoth was the “head of the eight” (Khnumu) - four pairs of primordial deities, embodying disordered matter before the act of creation (original ocean, non-existence, emptiness, etc.). And finally, in the New Kingdom, Thoth was considered the son of Ra and the goddess Neith.

Cult of Thoth

The cult of the god Thoth manifested itself in a variety of activities, both everyday and exceptional. They ordered the life of all Egyptians, from the poorest to the wealthiest.

Holidays and temples, the foundation of buildings, necropolises of sacred animals, various amulets, measures that even the most modest artisans constantly used - all this was part of the cult of the god Thoth, the patron saint of scribes.

Omnipresent Thoth and his honor

He was the god for whom the Egyptians erected personal sanctuaries dedicated to him alone. Similar temples were located, of course, in Great Hermopolis (in Upper Egypt) and in Hermopolis Small (in Lower Egypt), as well as in Heliopolis, Memphis and even Thebes - the city of Amun. His cult gradually spread far beyond the borders of the country, to the territory of modern Sudan, and was especially strong in Nubia. Where there were no temples dedicated to Thoth, he was present in other shrines as a "guest god". With the advent of the month of Thoth (July-August), the Hermopolian god was honored by all of Egypt. These celebrations ended on the nineteenth day of the same month with a great feast. The tables were full of meat, figs and honey.

Oracles on behalf of Thoth

The cult of this god also manifested itself in more private, but no less spectacular rites of divination. The words of God, coming from the mouth of a man, had a strong effect on people. One of the most notable was the oracle of Qasr el-Aguz. In this small temple, Thoth was called "the one who listens." But above all, he was "one who knows, who foreshadows tomorrow, who sees the future without making mistakes." When the oracle speaks, Thoth speaks through it. The rite, widespread in ancient Egypt, invariably impressed the common people!

Eye of Wadget

Among the many amulets common in ancient Egypt was the "healthy eye", the eye of Horus, which Set wrested from his nephew in battle and cut into six pieces. Healer Tot took on such a difficult case and successfully restored Horus's sight. Since then, in memory of this event, the image of each of the six parts of the eye of Horus has traditionally been used to record fractions - measures of grain. The eye of the wadget also symbolized the flawless solar disk.

Necropolises of sacred animals

He spoke through the mouth of his oracle, but the Egyptians constantly met with him in everyday life: the ibis (ancient Egyptian hebi), a bird that was found in abundance on the banks of the Nile in those days, was considered the incarnation of God. And therefore this unknowing creature was honored, like a man, with a magnificent funeral. Embalmed and mummified ibises could occupy entire necropolises: in one of the most famous, located in the north of Saqqara, archaeologists have found thousands of mummies of these birds! Baboons, although less numerous, were treated with no less attention. This once again proves the power of the daily cult of Thoth.

Adoration of doctors and land surveyors

Thoth, who managed to heal the eye of the god Horus, torn out by Set, was deeply revered by healers (both the most modest - sinu, and the most prosperous - uabu), as well as priests who were healers at temples. God helped the doctors, as well as the scribes, who were indebted to Thoth for the ability to write and enjoyed his patronage.

The creation of algebraic fractions, in turn, earned Thoth the respect of representatives of all professions and crafts that were somehow connected with various measurements, including mathematicians and surveyors. I must say that in ancient Egypt they measured and measured out a lot: grain, land, and so on. He, as the god (and creator) of all measures, was invariably present in the daily life of most Egyptians. Together with the goddess Seshat, Thoth was the most suitable candidate to oversee the founding rites of the temples that the pharaoh built.

Pharaoh's archivist

Due to his outstanding mental abilities, Thoth was very close to the pharaoh. This god even sometimes replaced Set in the rite of semataui, a holiday in memory of the unification of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt.

He also participated in the coronation ceremony of the ruler. Moreover, this god was his archivist: the Egyptians believed that he personally wrote down the throne name of the pharaoh, who was declared a scribe from the House of Life, on the leaves of the sacred tree ished. And Thoth said: "I made sure that your right to the throne will last for millions of years and hundreds of millions of jubilees." On this occasion, birds were released to all four corners of the world, among which, of course, was the ibis, the sacred bird of Thoth. So is it not right to call this god the first chronicler in history?

Recording the name of the pharaoh

The writing of the pharaoh's throne name on the sacred ished tree was the main part of the coronation ceremony. One of the most remarkable extant depictions of this Moment comes from the hypostyle hall of the Temple of Amun at Karnak. It is dedicated to Seti I, a pharaoh from the 19th dynasty (1306-1290 BC). The scene takes place in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. The pharaoh, crowned with a khepresh, holds a khek rod, which the priests handed to him. He stands on his knees under a tree. Behind him, Thoth, with the body of a man and the head of an ibis, writes the name of the new ruler on one of the leaves of the tree with a long pointed kalam.

Thoth is the most mysterious and least understood of the gods, whose personal character is completely different from all other ancient deities. While the metamorphoses of Osiris, Isis, Horus, and the rest are so numerous that their individuality is almost lost, Thoth remains unchanged from the first to the last Dynasty. He is the god of wisdom and power over all other gods. He is a chronicler and judge. His head of an ibis, pen and tablet of a heavenly scribe who writes down the thoughts, words and deeds of people and weighs them on a scale, bring him closer to the image of the esoteric Lipiks. His name is one of the first to appear on ancient monuments. He is the lunar god of the first dynasties, the teacher of Cynocephalus, a dog-headed monkey, who in Egypt served as a living symbol and memory of the Third Root Race (The Secret Doctrine, II, pp. 230, 231). He is the "Lord of Hermopolis" - a combination of Janus, Hermes and Mercury. He is crowned with an atef and a moon disk, and holds in his hand the "Eye of Horus", the third eye. He is the Greek Hermes, god of learning, and Hermes Trismegistus, "Thrice-great Hermes", patron of the physical sciences and patron and even the very soul of occult esoteric knowledge. As Mr. J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S. beautifully described it: “That… has a powerful effect on the imagination… in this intricate yet beautiful phantasmagoria of thought and moral sense of this hazy past. It is useless to ask oneself how a man in the cradle of this world of humanity, with the crudeness of a still - supposedly - nascent civilization, was able to dream of such a heavenly creature as Thoth. The features are so subtly outlined, woven together with such love and taste, that it seems that we have before us a picture conceived by the genius of Milton and executed with all the skill of Raphael. Indeed, there was some truth in that old expression, "The wisdom of the Egyptians." “When it is proved that the wife of Khafre, the builder of the second Pyramid, was a priestess of Thoth, it becomes clear that the ideas contained in it were established 6000 years ago.” According to Plato, "Thoth-Hermes was the discoverer and inventor of numbers, astronomy, geometry, and letters." Proclus, a student of Plotinus, speaking of this mysterious deity, declares: "He rules over every kind of state, directing us from this mortal abode to a rational essence, leading the various herds of souls." In other words, Thoth, as the Recorder and Chronicler of Osiris in Amenti, the Hall of Judgment of the Dead, was a psychopompic deity, and Iamblichus points out that "the hilt cross (tau) that Thoth holds in his hand was nothing more than a monogram of his name." Besides Tau, as the prototype of Mercury, Thoth bears the staff of the serpent, the symbol of Wisdom, the staff that became the Caduceus. Mr. Bonwick says: “Hermes was the serpent itself in the mystical sense. He glides like him, silently, without visible tension, down the centuries. He is… a representative of the starry sky. But he is also the enemy of the evil serpent, for the ibis exterminated snakes in Egypt.

"Theosophical Dictionary" Blavatsky H.P.

In Egyptian mythology, the god of wisdom, counting and writing. The goddess of truth and order, Maat, was considered the wife of Thoth. The origin of Thoth belongs to the most ancient period. Hence the epithets Thoth - "the lord of the Bedouins", "the lord of foreign countries." The center of the cult was the city of Shmun (Khemenu, literally "eight"; Greek Hermopol) of the 15th Hare nome. The cult of the hare was supplanted by the cult of Thoth from revered animals (eight frog gods, a snake and a baboon), only the baboon was preserved as a sacred animal Thoth and its functions as a leader in the pharaoh's holidays were transferred to Thoth. Thoth was dedicated five additional days outside the 12 months of the year. The priests of Thoth were Germanic nomarchs. At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. they bore the title of the sons of Thoth and put after the name the royal royal formula: “ankh, uja, seneb” (“may he be alive, healthy and prosperous”). The sacred animal of Thoth was the ibis (Thoth was usually depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, the scribe's palette was his attribute). As an astral deity, Thoth was identified with the moon, he was considered the heart of the god Ra and was depicted behind the Ra-sun. In late Egypt, Thoth was called the "silver Aten" ("silver disk"). Thoth was credited with creating the entire intellectual life of Egypt. As the god of the moon, he kept track of the days. months, year. He divided time into months and years. he was called "the lord of time". He recorded the birthdays and deaths of people and kept annals.

He created writing and taught people to count and write. The scribes considered him their patron, and before starting work they made libations to him. Under the auspices of Thoth were all the archives and the famous library of Hermopolis. He "ruled all languages" and was himself considered the language of the god Ptah. In the Hellenistic period, Thoth was credited with the creation of sacred books, as well as the "Book of Breath" (it was created in late Egypt, along with the "Book of the Dead" it was placed in the tomb as having magical powers). In the cult of the dead and in the funeral ritual, Thoth played a leading role. As vizier of the gods and scribe of the ennead of the gods, Thoth was present at the trial of Osiris. In the Book of the Dead, Thoth was depicted near the scales, recording the result of weighing the heart. Since Thoth participated in the justification of Osiris and gave the order for his embalming, he takes part in the funeral ritual of every Egyptian. He acts as the defender of Osiris, stops the fight between Set and Horus. He guards each deceased and leads him to the realm of the dead. On this basis, Thoth was identified with the god Hermes, who was considered a Psychopomp ("guide of the soul"). In the religious and mystical literature of the ancient Greeks, Thoth acted under the name of Trismegistus (“thrice very great”). Identified with the Roman god Mercury.

god of wisdom of ancient egypt

Alternative descriptions

The god who "forced out" the hare cult in ancient Egypt

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god of the moon, wisdom, letters and accounts, the patron of sciences, scribes, sacred books and witchcraft

In ancient Egyptian mythology - the god of the moon, wisdom, the patron of sciences, a synonym for Hermes

God with the head of an ibis

Egyptian moon god

Egyptian god of wisdom

god of wisdom in egyptian mythology

Egyptian god with the head of an ibis

Constant companion and adviser to the supreme god Ra

Egyptian god, creator of writing and calendar

The sacred animals of this god are the ibis and the baboon

Scribe god in Egyptian mythology, inventor of numbers

January in the ancient Egyptian calendar

In Egyptian mythology - the god of the moon, wisdom, the patron of sciences, a synonym for Hermes

The ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, with whom Hermes was identified in the Hellenistic era, as the patron of magic

Egyptian god of the moon

Another name for Hermes

egyptian god

Hermes in Egyptian

Egyptian god of wisdom

Fedot, no...

Egyptian Scribe God

Hermes among the Egyptians

Egyptian godwriter

. "... the most Munchausen"

God in the form of an ibis

God of the moon and wisdom of ancient Egypt

Wise god of the Egyptians

Companion and adviser of the god Ra

Father of Goddess Seshat

. "not this" Egyptian god (name)

. "who sows the wind ... will reap the whirlwind"

. "... the most Munchausen" (film)

Egyptian deity of the moon

The ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, with whom Hermes was identified in the Hellenistic era, as the patron of magic

ancient egyptian deity

In Egyptian mythology, the god of wisdom and the moon, the creator of writing and the calendar