Name given to many ancient Egyptian texts
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.
Texts that are known or claimed to exist
[
edit
]
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]
The Egyptian historian
Manetho
said that Thoth wrote 36,525 books.
[2]
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.
[3]
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.
[4]
Fictional book
[
edit
]
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.
[5]
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.
[6]
The story reflects the Egyptian belief that the gods' knowledge is not meant for humans to possess.
[7]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
The
Book of Thoth
is often featured in fiction with Egyptian or supernatural themes. Novels that do so include
Brood of the Witch-Queen
(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 Ukrainian director
Vladimir Pekar
(1985).
The
Book of Toth
is mentioned in
Season 2
Episode 3 (Muninn) of
American Gods
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Citations
- ^
Fowden 1993, p. 57
- ^
Jasnow and Zauzich 2005, p. 2
- ^
Fowden 1993, pp. 58?59
- ^
Jasnow and Zauzich 2005, pp. 2?9, 72?73
- ^
Lichtheim 2006, pp. 125?128
- ^
Lichtheim 2006, pp. 125, 129?136
- ^
Lichtheim 2006, p. 126
- Works cited
- Fowden, Garth (1993).
The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind
. Princeton University Press.
ISBN
978-0691024981
.
- Jasnow, Richard Lewis; Karl-Theodor Zauzich (2005).
The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth: A Demotic Discourse on Knowledge & Pendant to Classical Hermetica
. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
ISBN
9783447050821
.
- Lichtheim, Miriam
(2006) [1st. Pub. 1978].
Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume III: The Late Period
. University of California Press.
ISBN
0-520-24844-9
.