Thoth

"Hail to you, O Thoth, in whom is the peace of the gods." The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, Spell 9 In Thoth: The History of the Ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom, the author and researcher Lesley Jackson presents a comprehensive and wide-ranging study of this unique god spanning six millennia. Drawing on the latest archaeological and textual research, from magical papyri and stelae to statues and wall carvings, the author explores Thoth"s diverse functions including as god of writing, magic and wisdom, creator god, judge, healer, psychopomp, reckoner of time and lunar god. Developing from pre-dynastic origins, the worship of Thoth is discussed through the different Egyptian social classes from peasant to Pharaoh, and placed in the context of ancient Egyptian rituals and festivals; as is the later syncretisation of Thoth with the Greco-Egyptian figure of Hermes Trismegistus. In so doing the author demonstrates the pivotal role that the ibis-headed god fulfilled in many of the...