This is a rather unique book in that it does not attempt to be
anything other than an attempt to show how Egyptians through the
millenia related to Thoth. It isn't designed to detail the hymns and
rituals associated with Thoth, although they do figure into the
account. It isn't about his priesthood or his temples, although they
also enter into the account
There are numerous books which relate how the dynastic families of
Egypt related to Thoth, but very few which give any indication how
commoners saw their interaction with the God of Wisdom in his various
functions of scribe, messenger of the gods, protector, and psychopomp.
While the average Egyptian might expect that they would never
encounter the majority of their gods, Thoth was their guide in the
afterlife, and everyone – no matter how high or low their status –
would meet him during their transition between life and afterlife.
The Egyptian concept of religion was not the same as our modern
understanding. Theirs was much more fluid and intuitive. There were no
hard and fast rules about which god did what. Each of Egypt's nomes
(districts) had its local deities who were sometimes combined with
national gods when their attributes and functions overlapped, but
there was no consistency about which gods were combined, or how the
combinations would act. Such a concept may be difficult for the
average 21st century individual to understand or even relate to, but
it was a fact of life for the ancient Egyptians.
It should go without saying (so I will mention it, just to be sure)
that the perceptions of the gods maintained by the peasantry was not
the same as that maintained by the aristocracy. And that of the
priesthood was, undoubtedly, very different from both of those. The
peasant class saw the gods, most likely, as distant figures, for the
most part, who were not particularly interested in the affairs of the
common man. The aristocracy saw them, most likely, as idealized
versions of themselves and their class. And the priesthood likely saw
them as “upper management” who gave instructions to the priesthood to
be carried out.
And, of course, Egypt was conquered several times during its long
history, and the conquerors sometimes usurped the gods, or gave them
names in their languages which were perceived as the equivalent. These
also were often not a very good fit, since gods tend to be a little
hard to pin down when trying to describe what they are and what they
do. In addition, the Egyptians derived certain information from the
names of the gods. They were not above word play, and in fact reveled
in it to a large extent so that words which sounded similar, or had
similar roots, could be used in place of each other. This aspect was
often overlooked or ignored by those who usurped the gods for their
own purposes.
This book attempts a task which goes beyond monumental all the way to
colossal. It attempts to present millenia of perceptions, from
multiple points of view regarding a subject which is not open to
logical discussion. That it does not fully succeed is no condemnation
of the author's ability, but rather a reflection of the complexity of
the subject matter. Ms. Jackson has provided an admirable foundation
for further explorations, which should not be confined to Thoth, but
should look at other members of the Egyptian pantheon.
Dark Shadow wrote:
> On Jul 18, 3:46 am, "Lady Azure, Baroness of the North Pole"
> <laddie'o'lugh@gall's.org> wrote:
> > Mike wrote:
> > > Thoth
> > is a CIA, PRICK who broke into my House, to play with my Computer at 4:00
> > in the Morning one day, regardless of the GAS used on us, he was "SEEN"!
