The Book of Thoth (Egyptian myth)
The Book of Thoth is a significant element of Egyptian mythology, centering around the quest of Nefer-ka-ptah, a prince of Egypt, who seeks a sacred text attributed to Thoth, the god of wisdom. This mythical book is said to grant immense powers, including the ability to communicate with animals and resurrect the dead. Nefer-ka-ptah’s obsession with acquiring this knowledge leads him on a perilous journey to retrieve the book, which is hidden in a chest at the bottom of a river and guarded by magical creatures. Despite warnings from his wife and priests, he perseveres, ultimately overcoming the guardians to obtain the book.
However, this act of defiance against divine knowledge results in tragedy for Nefer-ka-ptah and his family, as Thoth enacts a vengeance that costs him his loved ones and eventually his own life. The tale reflects the ancient Egyptian belief in the boundaries between human understanding and divine knowledge, illustrating the consequences of overreaching one's mortal limits. The Book of Thoth, both in the narrative and in historical texts, symbolizes the complex relationship between humanity and the pursuit of wisdom, serving as a cautionary reminder that some knowledge is reserved for the gods.
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Subject Terms
The Book of Thoth (Egyptian myth)
Author: Traditional
Time Period: 5000 BCE–2500 BCE
Country or Culture: Egypt
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
Nefer-ka-ptah is the prince of Egypt, husband of the beautiful Ahura and father to Merab. Although he has incredible riches available to him, he cares only about studying the ancient writings and wisdom of his ancestors. One day, Nefer-ka-ptah goes into his temple to worship. The walls of the temple are filled with engravings, and Nefer-ka-ptah soon forgets to pray, finding himself caught up in reading the old writing. When a priest sees him, he begins to laugh, telling Nefer-ka-ptah that he is wasting his time. Instead, the prince should seek out the Book of Thoth, the holy text written by the god of wisdom. The priest explains that this book allows one to communicate with the birds, enchant the sky, and come back from the dead. Nefer-ka-ptah is enthralled, and even though the priest warns that the book is buried in a chest at the bottom of a river and protected by magical snakes and scorpions, Nefer-ka-ptah insists that he will find it.
Nefer-ka-ptah runs to tell his wife of his plan. She foresees that his quest will bring him great sorrow but is unable to dissuade him from seeking the book. Accompanied by Ahura and Merab, Nefer-ka-ptah takes the royal barge and sails to Koptos (Coptos), where the chest is hidden. Once there, he consults with the priests of Isis, and together they make magical workers whom they task with searching for the box under the river. After three days, the workers uncover an iron box protected by a gigantic, immortal snake and countless smaller snakes and scorpions. Nefer-ka-ptah casts a spell that puts the smaller creatures to sleep, but he is forced to battle the larger snake. He slices it in half twice, but each time the head returns to the body and the snake goes on fighting. At last, he slices the snake in half and kicks sand between the two parts so that they cannot rejoin. With this done, the snake lies powerless on the ground, and Nefer-ka-ptah is able to retrieve the box.
Inside the box is the Book of Thoth, and indeed, as soon as Nefer-ka-ptah reads it, he receives great power. Ahura next reads the book and likewise learns the spells inside of it. As they rapidly gain this ancient knowledge, however, Thoth learns that his book is missing. Enraged, the god approaches the sun god, Ra. Ra understands Thoth’s anger and grants him the permission and power necessary to take revenge.
As Nefer-ka-ptah sails his barge on the river, Thoth uses Ra’s power to lure Merab to the edge of the barge and pull him into the water, where he drowns. Nefer-ka-ptah uses his magic to retrieve Merab’s body and even to make the boy speak; Merab reports that Thoth seeks revenge for the theft of his knowledge. Nefer-ka-ptah and Ahura mourn the death of their son but also recognize that this is only the start of Thoth’s vengeance. Soon, Ahura is also drawn into the water to drown. As with his son, Nefer-ka-ptah retrieves her body and makes her speak, hearing further of Thoth’s anger. Only a short time passes before Nefer-ka-ptah himself is drawn to the water with an irresistible urge to drown.
Nefer-ka-ptah manages to tie the Book of Thoth to his body before succumbing to the god’s power, and the book remains with him until his body is discovered. The king orders that Nefer-ka-ptah be buried with highest honors alongside his treasure. Although Thoth’s vengeance costs Nefer-ka-ptah his life, the prince is never truly separated from the knowledge he so desperately craved.
SIGNIFICANCE
The Book of Thoth refers at once to the imagined text at the center of this myth and to a series of actual texts supposedly written by the god Thoth. Many temples in ancient Egypt contained small libraries (the rooms referenced at the start of the narrative of Nefer-ka-ptah), and as Thoth was a god of knowledge and learned wisdom, many of the texts in those libraries were attributed to him. While most of these books are lost to time, several survive in either complete or fragmentary forms.
Both the extant books attributed to the god and the mythological book sought in the narrative of Nefer-ka-ptah help to clarify the relationship between humans and magical knowledge in ancient Egypt. Nefer-ka-ptah himself is, in many ways, an ideal mortal. He has the blood of the king within him, which gives his life some divine properties from birth, and he devotes himself fully to the study and worship of the gods, taking time repeatedly throughout the myth to make sacrifices and visit temples. However, he is also improperly obsessed with obtaining the gods’ sacred knowledge, an obsession that even distracts him from praying when he visits a temple early in the narrative.
The knowledge that Nefer-ka-ptah seeks, then, is knowledge that no mortal has the right to obtain. Thoth denies mortals this knowledge and protects his book with an immortal snake not out of selfishness but because the divide between the mortal realm and the divine knowledge of the gods is inherent to existence. This is further confirmed when Thoth seeks to punish Nefer-ka-ptah for overstepping his role and stealing the book. Thoth does not immediately attack the young prince, although he certainly has the power to do so, but instead consults with Ra, arguably the most powerful god in the Egyptian pantheon at that time. This consultation shows that the protection of divine knowledge is of significance to all the gods, and the support that Ra offers confirms that the theft of the book is an assault on the entire realm of the deities and not simply on Thoth himself.
Thoth plays an important role in ancient Egyptian mythology, representing the acquisition of knowledge and the development of the sciences. As much as the god champions learning and wisdom, however, myths such as the story of Nefer-ka-ptah and his search for the Book of Thoth serve as reminders that there are limits to human knowledge and that some aspects of the universe must stay unknown.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, Brian. “The Story of the Book of Thoth.” The Wisdom of the Egyptians. New York: Brentano, 1923. 279–91. Print.
David, Rosalie. The Ancient Egyptians: Beliefs and Practices. Portland: Sussex Academic, 1988. Print.
Pinch, Geraldine. Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.
Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
“The Temple of Thoth at North Karnak.” Ancient Egypt Magazine Apr. 2009: 9. Print.