The Many Guises of Thoth

myminifactory

This Roman marble sculpture from the second century AD brings together an architectural element from Rome with a clearly Egyptian subject. A baboon is seated on a rectangular column that flares slightly at its base, holding in its hands a scroll that has been partially unrolled. On the baboon's head rests a full moon disk featuring the uraeus (a writhing cobra). The front of the column bears an ibis relief ornamentation. The baboon's rounded face and the ibis's slender bill represent two distinct phases of the moon: the full moon and the crescent. Both animals serve as guises for the Egyptian moon god Thoth. It is likely that the god originally stood beside the column in human form, because the moon disk on the monkey's head is supported by a human hand from behind. Ibises and baboons - like falcons, crocodiles, and many other animals - were revered throughout Egypt as part of a widespread practice that continued during the Roman period. Their mummified remains were buried in separate cemeteries such as the one near Hermopolis (present-day Tuna el-Gebel). The Greek name for the Egyptian city of Khmun is Hermopolis, which translates to 'City of Hermes'. This city was the traditional centre of the Thoth cult. Based on the sculpture's style, it appears that the missing anthropomorphic god was likely depicted in a Graeco-Roman form. The identification of Hermes and Thoth may seem strange at first: Hermes was not considered a moon god. However, Thoth protected cosmic order against chaos alongside the goddess Maat and maintained balance within the universe. He recorded the phases of the moon and its passing with it. As the inventor of language and writing, he became the patron of scribes and scholars. Thoth was the master of magic, the secretary of the gods, and an arbiter at the Judgement of the Dead. Hermes, on the other hand, served as a messenger of the gods like Iris and was the patron of travellers. In this capacity, he was also connected with the interpretation of divine messages and guided souls to the underworld. As a result, Hermes and Thoth became one and the same in Greek imagination. The Romans later identified Hermes with Mercury. During the second and third centuries AD, a theology derived from Egyptian religion developed, known as Hermeticism, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (the 'Thrice Greatest').