|
By Caroline Seawright
The wisest of the Egyptian gods was Thoth
(Djhuty, Djehuty, Tehuty), the baboon and ibis god of the moon. Thoth was
the god who overcame the curse of Ra, allowing Nut to give birth to her five
children, with his skill at games. It was he who helped Isis work the ritual
to bring Osiris back from the dead, and who drove the magical poison of Set
from her son, Horus with the power of his magic. He was Horus' supporter
during the young god's deadly battle with his uncle Set, helping Horus with
his wisdom and magic. It was Thoth who brought Tefnut, who left Egypt for
Nubia in a sulk after an argument with her father, back to heaven to be
reunited with Ra.
Tefnut, the Eye of Ra, became estranged from her father and fled into Nubia,
taking all of her precious water with her. In this land, she transformed
herself into a lioness. She raged through the countryside, emitting flames
from her eyes and nostrils. Viciously, she drank the blood and fed on the
flesh of both animals and humans. As time went on, Ra missed his Eye, and
longed to see her again - Egypt had dried, and the land was in chaos. He
summoned Shu to him, along with Thoth, who was the messenger of the gods and
famous for his eloquence. Ra issued the command that Shu and Thoth must go
to Nubia and bring back his recalcitrant daughter. Before they set off on
their journey Shu and Thoth disguised themselves as baboons. The baboon is
an animal sacred to Thoth. Eventually, Thoth and Shu found Tefnut in Begum.
Thoth began at once to try and persuade her to return to Egypt. Tefnut,
however, wasn't interested. She liked hunting in the desert and was
perfectly happy where she was. Thoth would not give up though, and wove
stories to depict to her how gloom had descended upon Egypt since she had
left. The people of Egypt would do anything for her if she'd just return
home. Ultimately, wooed by Thoth's promises, Tefnut relented and returned to
Egypt accompanied by the two baboons. All the way there, Thoth kept her
entertained with stories. Tefnut made a triumphant entry back into the
homeland, accompanied by a host of Nubian musicians, dancers and baboons.
She went from city to city, bringing back moisture and water, amid great
rejoicing, until finally she was reunited with her father, and restored to
her rightful position as his Eye.
When Ra retired from the earth, he
appointed Thoth and told him of his desire to create a Light-soul in the
Duat and in the Land of the Caves, and it was over this region that the sun
god appointed Thoth to rule, ordering him to keep a register of those who
were there, and to mete out just punishments to them. Thoth became the
representation of Ra in the afterlife, seen at the judgment of the dead in
the 'Halls of the Double Ma'at'.
The magical powers of Thoth were so great,
that the Egyptians had tales of a 'Book of Thoth', which would allow a
person who read the sacred book to become the most powerful magician in the
world. The Book which "the god of wisdom wrote with his own hand" was,
though, a deadly book that brought nothing but pain and tragedy to those
that read it, despite finding out about the "secrets of the gods themselves"
and "all that is hidden in the stars".
He was one of the earlier Egyptian gods, thought to be scribe to the gods,
who kept a great library of scrolls, over which one of his wives, Seshat
(the goddess of writing) was thought to be mistress. He was associated by
the Egyptians with speech, literature, arts, learning. He, too, was a
measurer and recorder of time, as was Seshat. Believed to be the author of
the spells in the Book of the Dead, he was a helper (and punisher) of the
deceased as they try to enter the underworld. In this role, his wife was
Ma'at, the personification of order, who was weighed against the heart of
the dead to see if they followed ma'at during their life.
Thoth was usually depicted as an ibis headed man or as a full ibis, or with
the face of a dog-headed baboon and the body of a man or, again, as a full
dog-headed baboon. The ibis, it is thought, had a crescent shaped beak,
linking the bird to the moon. The dog-headed baboon, on the other hand, was
a night animal that was seen by the Egyptians who would greet the sun with
chattering noises each morning just as Thoth, the moon god, would greet Ra,
the sun god, as he rose.
In keeping with his many attributes, he was depicted with a variety of
symbols. As a god of Egypt, he carried the ankh, the symbol of life, in one
hand, and in the other he held a scepter, the symbol of power. In the 'Book
of the Dead', he was shown holding a writing palette and reed pen to record
the deeds of the dead. As voice of the sun-god Ra, he carried the utchat, or
Eye of Ra, the symbol of Ra's ubiquitous power. Thoth was variously depicted
wearing a crescent moon on his headdress, or wearing the Atef crown, or
sometimes, the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Originally, Thoth was a god of creation,
but was later thought to be the one who civilized men, teaching them civic
and religious practices, writing, medicine, music and magic. He took on many
of the roles of Seshat, until she became a dual, female version of Thoth.
The god of learning was also reputed to
have been a god of measuring the passage of time, and thus the god of the
Egyptian calendar. It is interesting to note that although he is related to
the solar calendar in myth (where he won five extra days a year from Khonsu,
the moon god), but that as a moon god himself, he was very probably closely
related to Egypt's original lunar calendar:
"...Researchers of the ancient Egyptian calendar agree that the solar
calendar of 360 + 5 days was not the first prehistoric calendar of that
land. This 'civil' or secular calendar was introduced only after the start
of dynastic rule in Egypt, i.e., after 3100 BC; according to Richard A.
Parker (The Calendars of the Ancient Egyptians) it took place circa 2800
BC 'probably for administrative and fiscal purposes'. This civil calendar
supplanted, or perhaps supplemented at first, the 'sacred' calendar of
old. In the words of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 'the ancient Egyptians
originally employed a calendar based on the Moon'. According to R. A.
Parker (Ancient Egyptian Astronomy) that earlier calendar was, 'like that
of all ancient peoples', a calendar of twelve lunar months plus a
thirteenth intercalary month that kept the seasons in place."
-
Zecharia Sitchin, When Time Began
Thoth's centre of worshiped was at Khmunu
(Hermopolis) in Upper Egypt, where he was the creator god, in Ibis form, who
laid the World Egg. The sound of his song was thought to have created four
frog gods and snake goddesses who continued Thoth's song, helping the sun
journey across the sky.
He was the 'One who Made Calculations
Concerning the Heavens, the Stars and the Earth', the 'Reckoner of Times and
of Seasons', the one who 'Measured out the Heavens and Planned the Earth'.
He was 'He who Balances', the 'God of the Equilibrium' and 'Master of the
Balance'. 'The Lord of the Divine Body', 'Scribe of the Company of the
Gods', the 'Voice of Ra', the 'Author of Every Work on Every Branch of
Knowledge, Both Human and Divine', he who understood 'all that is hidden
under the heavenly vault'. Thoth was not just a scribe and friend to the
gods, but central to order - ma'at - both in Egypt and in the Duat. He was
'He who Reckons the Heavens, the Counter of the Stars and the Measurer of
the Earth'.
Taken directly from:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm
|
