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==History== [[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|Details based from the [[Papyrus of Ani]] depicts the jackal-headed [[Anubis]] weighing a heart against the feather of truth on the scale of [[Maat]], while ibis-headed Thoth records the result. Having a heart equal to the weight of the feather allows passage to the afterlife, whereas an imbalance results in a meal for [[Ammit]], the chimera of crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus.|left]] Thoth was a Moon god. The Moon not only provides light at night, allowing time to still be measured without the Sun, but its phases and prominence gave it a significant importance in early astrology/astronomy. The perceived cycles of the Moon also organized much of Egyptian society's rituals and events, both civil and religious. Consequently, Thoth gradually became seen as a [[god of wisdom]], [[magic and religion|magic]], and the measurement and regulation of events and of time.<ref>Assmann, Jan, ''The Search for God in Ancient Egypt'', 2001, pp. 80β81</ref> He was thus said to be the secretary and counselor of the [[solar deity|Sun god]] Ra, and with Ma'at (truth/order) stood next to Ra on the nightly voyage across the sky. Thoth became credited by the ancient Egyptians as the inventor of writing ([[hieroglyph]]s),<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mythology. The illustrated anthology of world myth & storytelling|last=Littleton|first=C.Scott|publisher=Duncan Baird Publishers|year=2002|isbn=9781903296370|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mythologyillustr0000unse_i7i9/page/24 24]|url=https://archive.org/details/mythologyillustr0000unse_i7i9/page/24}}</ref> and was also considered to have been the scribe of the underworld. For this reason, Thoth was universally worshipped by ancient Egyptian scribes. Many scribes had a painting or a picture of Thoth in their "office". Likewise, one of the symbols for scribes was that of the ibis. In art, Thoth was usually depicted with the head of an ibis, possibly because the Egyptians saw the curve of the ibis' beak as a symbol of the crescent moon.<ref>Wilkinson, Richard H., ''The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt'', 2003, p. 217</ref> Sometimes, he was depicted as a baboon holding up a crescent moon. [[File:Stela showing a male adorer standing before 2 Ibises of Thoth. Limestone, sunken relief. Early 19th Dynasty. From Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|Worshipper before two ibises of Thoth. (early [[19th Dynasty]])|upright|right]] During the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt]], a cult of Thoth gained prominence due to its main center, Khmun ([[Hermopolis Magna]]), also becoming the capital. Millions of dead ibis were mummified and buried in his honor.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wasef |first1=Sally |last2=Subramanian |first2=Sankar |last3=O'Rorke |first3=Richard |last4=Huynen |first4=Leon |last5=El-Marghani |first5=Samia |last6=Curtis |first6=Caitlin |last7=Popinga |first7=Alex |last8=Holland |first8=Barbara |last9=Ikram |first9=Salima |last10=Millar |first10=Craig |last11=Willerslev |first11=Eske |last12=Lambert |first12=David |title=Mitogenomic diversity in Sacred Ibis Mummies sheds light on early Egyptian practices |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2019 |volume=14 |issue=11 |pages=e0223964 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0223964 |pmid=31721774 |pmc=6853290 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1423964W |doi-access=free }}</ref> Thoth was inserted in many tales as the wise counselor and persuader, and his association with learning and measurement led him to be connected with [[Seshat]], the earlier deification of wisdom, who was said to be his daughter, or variably his wife. Thoth's qualities also led to him being identified by the Greeks with their closest matching god Hermes, with whom Thoth was eventually combined as [[Hermes Trismegistus]],{{efn|name=Bull-2018}} leading to the Greeks' naming Thoth's cult center as Hermopolis, meaning ''city of Hermes''. In the [[Papyrus of Ani]] copy of the [[Egyptian Book of the Dead]] the scribe proclaims "I am thy [[scribe's palette|writing palette]], O Thoth, and I have brought unto thee thine ink-jar. I am not of those who work iniquity in their secret places; let not evil happen unto me."{{sfnp|Budge|1999|p=562}} Plate XXIX Chapter CLXXV (Budge) of the Book of the Dead is the oldest tradition said to be the work of Thoth himself.{{sfnp|Budge|1999|p=282}} There was also an Egyptian pharaoh of the [[Sixteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixteenth dynasty]] named [[Sekhemre Sementawy Djehuty|Djehuty]] (Thoth) after him, and who reigned for three years. [[File:Cylinder seal and modern impression king holding two lion griffins at bay and Egyptian hieroglyphs ca. 6thβ5th century BC.jpg|thumb|Modern impression of an [[Achaemenid]] cylinder seal from [[Iran]], with [[Master of Animals|king holding]] two lion [[griffin]]s at bay and Egyptian [[hieroglyphs]] reading "Thoth is a protection over me". ({{Circa|6th}}β5th century BC).<ref>{{cite web |title= Cylinder seal and modern impression: king holding two lion griffins at bay |id=Accession number: 36.106.2 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/323560 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref>|right]] [[Plato]] mentions Thoth (as ΞΞ΅α½ΊΞΈ, "Theuth")<ref>{{Cite web |title= Phaedrus |author=Plato |page=274 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0174:text=Phaedrus:page=274 |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Perseus Digital Library}}</ref> in his dialogue ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]''. He uses the myth of Thoth to demonstrate that writing leads to laziness and forgetfulness. In the story, Thoth remarks to King [[Thamus (mythical King of Egypt)|Thamus]] of Egypt that writing is a wonderful substitute for memory. Thamus remarks that it is a remedy for reminding, not remembering, with the appearance but not the reality of wisdom. Future generations will hear much without being properly taught and will appear wise but not be so.<ref>''The Dialogues of Plato'', Benjamin Jowett translation (1892), vol. 2, p. 153</ref> [[Artapanus of Alexandria]], an Egyptian Jew who lived in the third or second century BC, [[euhemerism|euhemerized]] Thoth-Hermes as a historical human being and claimed he was the same person as [[Moses]], based primarily on their shared roles as authors of texts and creators of laws. Artapanus's biography of Moses conflates traditions about Moses and Thoth and invents many details.{{sfnp|Mussies|1982|pp=91, 97, 99β100}} Many later authors, from [[late antiquity]] to the [[Renaissance]], either identified Hermes Trismegistus with Moses or regarded them as contemporaries who expounded similar beliefs.{{sfnp|Mussies|1982|pp=118β120}} === Archaeology === Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of the collective graves of senior officials and high clergies of the god Thoth in [[Tuna el-Gebel]] in [[Minya, Egypt|Minya]] in January 2020. An archaeological mission headed by [[Mostafa Waziri]] reported that 20 [[sarcophagi]] and [[coffin]]s of various shapes and sizes, including five [[wikt:anthropoid|anthropoid]] sarcophagi made of [[limestone]] and carved with [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphic]] texts, as well as 16 tombs and five well-preserved wooden coffins were unearthed by their team.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In photos: Communal tombs for high priests uncovered Upper Egypt β Ancient Egypt β Heritage|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/362609/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/In-photos-Communal-tombs-for-high-priests-uncovere.aspx |first1=Nevine |last1=El-Aref |date=30 Jan 2020 |access-date=2020-06-28|website=Ahram Online|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tombs of High Priests Discovered in Upper Egypt |url=https://www.archaeology.org/news/8395-200131-tombs-priests-egypt|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Archaeology Magazine |date=30 January 2020 }}</ref>
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