Thoth (Jhuti) is one of the most ancient Egyptian gods. In the Predynastic era he, as the deity of the Moon, was identified with the left eye of Horus the Falcon. Later, Thoth began to be depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, his sacred bird; less often - in the guise of a baboon (kyiocephalus) and very rarely - in the guise of a man in a complex headdress consisting of bull horns, a solar disk with a uraeus in the form of an ibis head, a klaft (nemes) - a striped scarf with two coattails lying on the shoulders and an "atef" crown.
Thoth is the calculator of time, so he is often depicted with the symbol of dominion over time - a palm branch - in his hand. He is the scribe of Ra, the messenger of the gods, the patron of knowledge, magic and medicine; he knows all the magic words and miraculous spells that exist in the earthly and other worlds. He compiled a set of laws for Upper and Lower Egypt; he is an indispensable participant in any court. In the Underworld, at the Court of Osiris, Thoth writes down the verdicts of the Court.
Thoth's silver boat - the Moon - transports the souls of the dead through the night sky to the other world - beyond the horizon.
Thoth's wife is the goddess Seshet, patroness of writing and geometry. This goddess is in charge of the sacred Heavenly Tree - the Tree of Ished. When a new pharaoh is born on earth and when he ascends to the throne, Seshet writes down the name of the new ruler on the leaves of the Tree and thereby grants immortality to the pharaoh. All historical events that happened in the past and that are destined to happen in the future are also recorded on the leaves of the Tree.
Seshet is depicted as a woman wearing a headdress consisting of a seven-pointed star and feathers (the meaning of this symbol is unknown), or wearing a crown of papyrus leaves; sometimes she is dressed in leopard skin. In her hands, the goddess usually holds a palm branch or writing instruments - a tablet with paints and reeds.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru