ht to possess special virtue
when written in hieroglyphs, and the chapters and sections of books that
were considered to have been composed by Thoth himself were believed to
possess very great power, and to be of the utmost benefit to the dead
when they were written out for them in hieroglyphs, and buried with them
in their coffins. Thoth also invented the science of numbers, and as he
fixed the courses of the sun, moon, and stars, and ordered the seasons,
he was thought to be the first astronomer. He was the lord of wisdom,
and the possessor of all knowledge, both heavenly and earthly, divine
and human; and he was the author of every attempt made by man to draw,
paint, and carve. As the lord and maker of books, and as the skilled
scribe, he was the clerk of the gods, and kept the registers wherein the
deeds of men were written down. The deep knowledge of Thoth enabled him
to find out the truth at all times, and this ability caused the
Egyptians to assign to him the position of Chief Judge of the dead. A
very ancient legend states that Thoth acted in this capacity in the
great trial that took place in heaven when Osiris was accused of certain
crimes by his twin-brother Set, the god of evil. Thoth examined the
evidence, and proved to the gods that the charges made by Set were
untrue, and that Osiris had spoken the truth and that Set was a liar.
For this reason every Egyptian prayed that Thoth might act for him as he
did for Osiris, and that on the day of the Great Judgment Thoth might
preside over the weighing of his heart in the Balance. All the important
religious works in all periods were believed to have been composed
either by himself, or by holy scribes who were inspired by him. They
were believed to be sources of the deepest wisdom, the like of which
existed in no other books in the world. And it is probably to these
books that Egypt owed her fame for learning and wisdom, which spread
throughout all the civilised world. The "Books of Thoth," which late
popular tradition in Egypt declared to be as many as 36,525 in number,
were revered by both natives and foreigners in a way which it is
difficult for us in these days to realise. The scribes who studied and
copied these books were also specially honoured, for it was believed
that the spirit of Thoth, the twice-great and thrice-great god, dwelt in
them. The profession of the scribe was considered to be most honourable,
and its rewards were great, for no rank and no dig