Chronicle
 The Epic
Battles:
Thoth played a prominent role
in Egyptian myths and has overseen the
three epic battles between good and
evil.
All three battles are
basically the same but belong to different
periods.
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The
first battle was between Ra and
Apep.
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The second was between
Heru-Bekhutet and Set.
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The third between Horus, the son
of Osiris, and Set.
In each battle, the former god
represented order, or good, while the latter represented
chaos, or evil. If one god was seriously injured, Thoth
would heal them to maintain balance and prevent one from
overtaking the other.
The Osiris
Myth:
Thoth was also
of great aid to Isis in the Osiris myth. As the legend
goes, after Isis retrieved the pieces of Osiris'
dismembered body, Thoth gave her the words to resurrect him
so she could be impregnated and bring forth Horus, named
for his uncle. When Horus was slain, Thoth gave the formula
to resurrect him as well.
The 365 Day
Calendar:
Mythology also
credits Thoth with the creation of the 365 day
calendar. Originally, according to the myth, the year was
only 360 days long. The goddess Nut was pregnant by
her brother/husband Geb but Ra forbade her to give birth on
any day of the Egyptian calendar. was sterile during these
days and unable to bear children. Thoth gambled
with The Moon, (Iabet or Khonsu), in a game of dice
for 1/72nd of its light (360/72 = 5), or 5 days, and won.
During these 5 days, Nut gave birth to her five children on
those days. (Kheru-ur (Horus the Elder, Face of Heaven),
Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nepthys). Thoth was also thought to
be the god of the first month of the Egyptian calendar,
known as Thuthi by the Greeks. Note: Many of the
Egyptians religious and civil rituals were organized
according to a lunar calendar. As Thoth was associated with
writing and with the moon it is not surprising that he was
also linked to the creation of the
calendar.
The
Word:
Similar to God speaking the
words to create the heavens and Earth in Judeo-Christian
beliefs, Thoth, being the god who always speaks the words
that fulfill the wishes of Ra, spoke the words that created
the heavens and Earth in Egyptian mythology.
Thoth Returns the Eye of
Ra:
It was Thoth who
brought Tefnut, who left Egypt for Nubia in a sulk after an
argument with her father, back to heaven to be reunited
with Ra.
As the story
goes, Tefnut, the Eye of Ra, became estranged from her
father and fled into Nubia, taking all of her precious
water with her. In this land, she transformed herself into
a lioness. She raged through the countryside, emitting
flames from her eyes and nostrils. Viciously, she drank the
blood and fed on the flesh of both animals and
humans.
As time went on,
Ra missed his Eye, and longed to see her again - Egypt had
dried, and the land was in chaos. He summoned Shu to him,
along with Thoth, who was the messenger of the gods and
famous for his eloquence. Ra issued the command that Shu
and Thoth must go to Nubia and bring back his defiant
daughter. Before they set off on their journey Shu and
Thoth disguised
themselves as baboons. (The
baboon was a sacred animal to
Thoth).
Eventually,
Thoth and Shu found Tefnut in Begum. Thoth began at once to
try and persuade her to return to Egypt. Tefnut, however,
wasn't interested. She liked hunting in the desert and was
perfectly happy where she was. Thoth would not give
up and wove stories to depict to her how gloom had
descended upon Egypt since she had left. The people of
Egypt would do anything for her if she'd just return
home.
Ultimately, wooed
by Thoth's promises, Tefnut relented and returned to Egypt
accompanied by the two baboons. All the way there, Thoth
kept her entertained with stories. Tefnut made a triumphant
entry back into the homeland, accompanied by a host of
Nubian musicians, dancers and baboons. She went from city to city, bringing back
moisture and water (the inundation), amid great rejoicing,
until finally she was reunited with her father, and restored
to her rightful position as his Eye.
Thoth Represents Ra in the
Afterlife:
When Ra retired from the
Earth, he appointed Thoth and told him of his desire to create
a Light-soul in the Duat and in the Land of the Caves. It
was over this region that The Sun god appointed Thoth to rule,
ordering him to keep a register of those who were there, and to
measure out just punishments to them. Thoth became the
representation of Ra in the afterlife and seen at the judgment
of the dead in the 'Halls of the Double Ma'at'.
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