Thoth (Tehuty, Djehuty, Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, Tetu) is the Egyptian god of knowledge, wisdom, the moon and magic. He the patron of scribes, writing and science. Thoth was considered the inventor of the hieroglyphics. The duties of the ibis-headed god Thoth included that of secretary of the sun god Ra and scribe of the Underworld. He is also a mediating power between good and evil.
Clerics of Thoth are scribes, historians, sages, mathematicians, and messengers. They collect and protect knowledge, building libraries and universities to preserve and pass on their knowledge. They follow the traditional fashion of Pharaonic clerics, including white robes and shaved heads for male clerics. Most of Thoth's clerics are male.
Thoth's temples often contain or adjoin libraries or other places of learning. In contrast to Anubis’s cemetery temples, the knowledge held in Thoth's temples is available to all.
Thoth's followers view life as a quest for knowledge and for mastery of an ever-increasing body of information about the world. Followers of Thoth collect knowledge for knowledge's sake, striving to better themselves through learning. Some hope to better the world as well, while others hope to gain the means to impose their will on the world through their knowledge. For Thoth himself, knowledge is all that matters.
Thoth appears as a slender human with the head of an ibis (a long beaked bird).
Thoth is not related to any other deity in the Pharaonic pantheon, and his origins are not clear. Some legends say that he was present at creation, recording the events of Re's (Ra's) birth as they occurred. Others say he is a son of Re, brother of Shu and Tefnut. The goddess Seshat is his consort.
One myth suggest that Thoth created himself through the power of language (in an interesting parallel to the phrase in the Gospel according to St John "in the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"). His song was thought to have created eight deities of the Ogdoad (the gods Nun, Heh, Kuk and Amun and the goddesses Nunet, Hauhet, Kuaket and Amaunet).
