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Also known as: Djehuty, Tehuti, Three Times Great
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

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Thoth is the ibis-headed god of wisdom, writing, magic, and the moon. He invented hieroglyphs and is credited with creating all branches of knowledge, including science, philosophy, mathematics, and religion. His precise calculations and record-keeping maintain cosmic order.
Thoth serves as the divine mediator and arbiter, ensuring balance between good and evil, order and chaos. During the great contest between Horus and Set for the throne of Egypt, Thoth presided over the proceedings and recorded the judgments. He restored the Eye of Horus after Set damaged it, making the Wedjat a symbol of wholeness and healing.
As a lunar deity, Thoth governs time, calendars, and the measurement of seasons. He added five extra days to the calendar through a clever wager with the moon god Khonsu, allowing Nut to give birth to her children (Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder).
Thoth appears as an ibis or a baboon, both sacred to him. His primary cult center was Hermopolis (Khemenu), where he was worshipped as a creator god. Greeks later identified him with Hermes, calling him Hermes Trismegistus ("Thrice-Great").
Thoth's origins are mysterious, befitting the god of hidden knowledge. In some traditions, he was self-created, emerging from the chaos at the beginning of time through the power of language itself. Other accounts describe him as born from the lips of Ra, created from the sun god's words. In Hermopolitan theology, Thoth was among the primordial eight deities (the Ogdoad) who existed before creation. His role in establishing cosmic order through writing and calculation made him essential to the functioning of the universe from its very beginning.