Thoth: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Egyptian God Who Maintains the Universe

by Charles River Editors, Markus Carabas

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents “Thus says Thoth, judge of truth, to the Great Ennead which is in the presence of Hear this word of very truth. I have judged the heart of the deceased and his soul stands as a witness for him. His deeds are righteous in the great balance, and no sin has been found in him…” Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world’s first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like King Tut and Cleopatra, it’s no wonder that today’s world has so many Egyptologists. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization was its inception from the ground up, as the ancient Egyptians had no prior civilization which they could use as a template. In fact, ancient Egypt itself became a template for the civilizations that followed. The Greeks and the Romans were so impressed with Egyptian culture that they often attributed many attributes of their own culture - usually erroneously - to the Egyptians. To the ancient Egyptians, as was the case with any society made up of inquiring humans, the world was a confusing and often terrifying place of destruction, death and unexplained phenomena. In order to make sense of such an existence, they resorted to teleological stories. Giving a phenomenon a story made it less horrifying, and it also helped them make sense of the world around them. Unsurprisingly, then, the ancient Egyptian gods permeated every aspect of existence. Baboons held a prestigious place in Egyptian religion. They were kept as sacred animals in many temples because contemporary Egyptians considered them the original religious observers, particularly with respect to the sun god Re. Ancient Egyptians took the wild baboons stretching on their hind legs, forelegs raised to the sky, to be an oration to the sun god at dawn. Furthermore, these ancient ancestors of the land of Egypt were greeted at dawn by the concatenations of the baboons nattering, which the religious-minded took to be an early-morning devotion and even believed that the baboons spoke the original language of religion, and a claim they could understand baboons was often one asserted by certain members of the priestly class. However, it is his association with the ibis that most defines Thoth’s visual imagery. Since the ancient Egyptians believed that the universe arose from the swamp-like waters of Nun, it was the water bird that garnered the most prestigious veneration. Birds like geese, herons and the ibises were associated with this period of creation, and, according to some beliefs, the world came about thanks to the great “honk” of a primordial goose, whose eggshell was said to be preserved in the temple of Thoth. It was believed that Re created Thoth’s baboon form to be that of his “shining moon,” but his ibis form was that of a messenger between heaven and earth (although he was much more than this). The History and Legacy of the Ancient Egyptian God Who Maintains the Universe looks at the mythology surrounding one of antiquity’s most famous deities. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Thoth like never before.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Mythology

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 5, 2018

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little overview.

[Andi Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad introduction for those interested in Thoth or Egyptian mythology, as it talks about other deities too.

The book is incredibly short, so unless you absolutely need the physical copy then just read the ebook, it’ll be much cheaper or quite possibly free.

I learnt a few new things about misc Egyptian myth however, not really anything new about Thoth.

For anyone looking for a great, in-depth writing on Thoth I highly suggest Thoth: The History of the Ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom by Leslie Jackson.

[Madeline Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoth revealed

Many descriptions of an amazing Being. The Creator and Scribe. His magic supersedes many of the Egyptian Pantheon. As Hermès by the Greeks is limiting to his vast works of the Divine. Amazing book. Thank you!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall my comment about the book would be very good. It was a very good primer on Thoth and would be a good book for someone studying about several gods and myths at the same time in college.

[Jason Baldauf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read, decent information. No Earth shattering revelations that aren’t covered in other books.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. There was lots of interesting information that I did not know. It is difficult to define what exact role Thoth played in Egyptian religion because there was a lot of overlap with other gods and goddesses as well as no written list of specific duties. Some of his duties are named in legends but others are more nebulous because they changed with time or because a god could take on the aspects of other gods.

Perhaps because of the very nebulous nature of his role and powers, the beginning of the book is a bit chaotic and I think could be organized a little better. Otherwise, it had interesting information and good pictures.