Book of Thoth is a name given to many ancient Egyptian texts supposed to have been written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and knowledge. They include many texts that were claimed to exist by ancient authors and a magical book that appears in an Egyptian work of fiction.
The Egyptians stored many texts, on a wide range of subjects, in "Houses of Life", the libraries contained within temple complexes. As Thoth was the god of knowledge, many of these texts were claimed to be his work. [1]
</ref>The Book of Thoth is mentioned in the oldest inscription on the sarcophagus of the Imamy with a quote from chapter 68 of the "Book of the Dead", as well as on the sarcophagus of Sobek.: "You (Imamy) are sitting under the branches of a fig tree near Hathor in front of a wide sun disk when she goes to Heleopolis, with the writing of the word of God in the book of Thoth." </ref>Тураев Б. Бог Тот. Опыт исследования в области истории древне-египетской культуры. - Лейпциг, 1898. с. 44</ref>https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Boris_Turaev/bog-tot/</ref>
The church father Clement of Alexandria, in the sixth book of his work Stromata , mentions forty-two books used by Egyptian priests that he says contain "the whole philosophy of the Egyptians". All these books, according to Clement, were written by Hermes (a pre-existing Greek god that the Greeks likened to Thoth, claiming they were the same god, having similar qualities, e.g. both invented writing). Translation from Egyptian language and concepts to Greek language and concepts was not entirely accurate, and some Egyptian authenticity was lost. Among the subjects they cover are hymns, rituals, temple construction, astrology, geography, and medicine. [2]
The Egyptologists Richard Lewis Jasnow and Karl-Theodor Zauzich have dubbed a long Egyptian text from the Ptolemaic period "the Book of Thoth". This Demotic text, known from more than forty fragmentary copies, consists of a dialogue between a person called "The-one-who-loves-knowledge" and a figure that Jasnow and Zauzich identify as Thoth. The topics of their conversation include the work of scribes, various aspects of the gods and their sacred animals, and the Duat, the realm of the dead. [3]
The fictional Book of Thoth appears in an ancient Egyptian short story from the Ptolemaic period, known as "Setne Khamwas and Naneferkaptah" or "Setne I". The book, written by Thoth, contains two spells, one of which allows the reader to understand the speech of animals, and one which allows the reader to perceive the gods themselves. [4]
According to the story, the book was originally hidden at the bottom of the Nile near Coptos, where it was locked inside a series of boxes guarded by serpents. The Egyptian prince Neferkaptah fought the serpents and retrieved the book, but in punishment for his theft from Thoth, the gods killed his wife Ahwere and son Merab. Neferkaptah committed suicide and was entombed along with the book. Generations later, the story's protagonist, Setne Khamwas (a character based on the historical prince Khaemwaset), steals the book from Neferkaptah's tomb despite opposition from Neferkaptah's ghost. Setne then meets a beautiful woman who seduces him into killing his children and humiliating himself in front of the pharaoh. He discovers that this episode was an illusion created by Neferkaptah, and in fear of further retribution, Setne returns the book to Neferkaptah's tomb. At Neferkaptah's request, Setne also finds the bodies of Neferkaptah's wife and son and buries them in Neferkaptah's tomb, which is then sealed. [5]
The story reflects the Egyptian belief that the gods' knowledge is not meant for humans to possess. [6]
The Book of Thoth is often featured in fiction with Egyptian or supernatural themes. Novels that do so include Brood of the Witch-Queen [7] (1918) by Sax Rohmer; Moses, Man of the Mountain (1938) by Zora Neale Hurston; Mumbo Jumbo (1972) by Ishmael Reed; The Rosetta Key (2008) by William Dietrich; and The Serpent's Shadow (2012) by Rick Riordan. The Book plays a role in Henry H. Neff's juvenile fantasy series The Tapestry, Lisa Maxwell's young adult series The Last Magician, and Lynne Ewing's young adult series Sisters of Isis .
The "Book of Thoth" is mentioned in several stories by H. P. Lovecraft, most notably "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", where it is linked with Yog-Sothoth, an alien entity worshiped by sages and magicians.
The Book of Thoth also appears in video games. For example, it is a side-quest element in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey . In both the multi-player online battle arena Smite and Board Game Online, the Book of Thoth is a usable item. In Sid Meier's Civilization VI, it is present as a holy relic that generates faith and tourism. In The Fool's Errand, it represents the overarching meta-puzzle that must be unlocked and solved to complete the game.
In the third arc of the manga (and anime) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , the antagonist Boingo's supernatural ability is named Thoth and takes the form of a fortune-telling comic book. In the Japanese novel (and anime) Myriad Colors Phantom World , the protagonist has an ability called "The Book of Thoth".
The Book of Toth and the tomb of Nefer-Ka-Ptah also are animated in the short film The riddle of the Sphinx, directed by the Ukraïnian director Vladimir Pekar (1985).
The Book of Toth is mentioned in Season 2 Episode 3 (Muninn) of American Gods
Imhotep was an Egyptian chancellor to the King Djoser, possible architect of Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. Very little is known of Imhotep as a historical figure, but in the 3,000 years following his death, he was gradually glorified and deified.
The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris's murderer, his brother Set, usurps his throne. Meanwhile, Osiris's wife Isis restores her husband's body, allowing him to posthumously conceive their son, Horus. The remainder of the story focuses on Horus, the product of the union of Isis and Osiris, who is at first a vulnerable child protected by his mother and then becomes Set's rival for the throne. Their often violent conflict ends with Horus's triumph, which restores maat to Egypt after Set's unrighteous reign and completes the process of Osiris's resurrection.
Set is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion. In Ancient Greek, the god's name is given as Sēth. Set had a positive role where he accompanied Ra on his barque to repel Apep (Apophis), the serpent of Chaos. Set had a vital role as a reconciled combatant. He was lord of the Red Land (desert), where he was the balance to Horus' role as lord of the Black Land.
Hermes Trismegistus is a legendary Hellenistic period figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. He is the purported author of the Hermetica, a widely diverse series of ancient and medieval pseudepigraphica that laid the basis of various philosophical systems known as Hermeticism.
Thoth is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Ma'at. He was the god of the Moon, wisdom, knowledge, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art and judgment.
Khonsu is an ancient Egyptian god of the Moon. His name means 'traveller', and this may relate to the perceived nightly travel of the Moon across the sky. Along with Thoth, he marked the passage of time and is associated with baboons. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes, he formed part of a family triad with Mut as his mother and Amun his father.
Ammit was an ancient Egyptian goddess with the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a hippopotamus, and the head of a crocodile—the three largest "man-eating" animals known to ancient Egyptians. In ancient Egyptian religion, Ammit played an important role during the funerary ritual, the Judgment of the Dead.
Khnum, also romanised Khnemu, was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities in Upper Egypt, originally associated with the Nile cataract. He held the responsibility of regulating the annual inundation of the river, emanating from the caverns of Hapy, the deity embodying the flood. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt and clay, and its water brought life to its surroundings, he eventually became known as the creator of human bodies and the life force kꜣ ("ka"). Using a potter's wheel and clay, he fashioned these entities and placed them within their mothers' wombs. Often, his creative endeavors were overseen by another god. He was later described as having moulded the other deities, and was revered as the creator of the animal kingdom.
The Hermetica are texts attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. These texts may vary widely in content and purpose, but by modern convention are usually subdivided into two main categories, the "technical" and "religio-philosophical" Hermetica.
Prince Khaemweset was the fourth son of Ramesses II and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. His contributions to Egyptian society were remembered for centuries after his death. Khaemweset has been described as "the first Egyptologist" due to his efforts in identifying and restoring historic buildings, tombs and temples.
The Greek Magical Papyri is the name given by scholars to a body of papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt, written mostly in ancient Greek, which each contain a number of magical spells, formulae, hymns, and rituals. The materials in the papyri date from the 100s BCE to the 400s CE. The manuscripts came to light through the antiquities trade, from the 1700s onward. One of the best known of these texts is the Mithras Liturgy.
The Book of the Earth is an Ancient Egyptian funerary text that has been called many names such as The Creation of the Sun Disk and the Book of Aker. The Book primarily appears on the tombs of Merneptah, Twosret, Ramesses III, Ramesses VI, and Ramesses VII and serves as a counterpart to the Book of Caverns.
The Book of the Heavenly Cow, or the Book of the Cow of Heaven, is an Ancient Egyptian text thought to have originated during the Amarna Period and, in part, describes the reasons for the imperfect state of the world in terms of humankind's rebellion against the supreme sun god, Ra. Divine punishment was inflicted through the goddess Hathor, with the survivors suffering through separation from Ra, who now resided in the sky on the back of Nut, the heavenly cow.
Heqet, sometimes spelled Heket, is an Egyptian goddess of fertility, identified with Hathor, represented in the form of a frog.
The Serpent's Shadow is a 2012 fantasy adventure novel based on Egyptian mythology written by American author Rick Riordan. It is the third and final novel in The Kane Chronicles series. It was published by Disney Hyperion on May 1, 2012.
Nehmetawy(nḥm.t-ˁw3ỉ; "she who embraces those in need") is a goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion. She is not very widely known. Nehmetawy was the wife of snake god Nehebkau, or in other places of worship, like in Hermopolis, the wife of Thoth.A local form of the god Horus called Horus-nefer " might have been viewed as the son of Thoth and Nehmetawy. Her depictions are anthropomorph, with a sistrum-shaped headdress, often with a child in her lap.
The Tale of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire is a Demotic Egyptian story attested on papyrus in Roman Egypt. Some argue that it is an answer to the biblical account about the Queen of Sheba testing Solomon with hard "questions" in 1 Kings 10:1.
Renpetneferet is a minor goddess who is credited as being either the sister or the wife of Imhotep in Late Period Egyptian texts. There is no evidence of an individual by this name existing during the reign of King Djoser, although similar names were being used for women during the fourth dynasty.
Hor son of Punesh is a magician from ancient Egyptian literature.