The literature of the ancient Egyptians . d wisdom, which spread throughout all the civiHsedworld. The Books of Thoth, which late popular tradi-tion in Egypt declared to be as many as 36,525 in number,were revered by both natives and foreigners in a way whichit is difficult for us in thesedays to realise. The scribeswhostudied and copied these books were also specially honoured,for it was believed that the spirit of Thoth, the twice-greatand thrice-great god, dwelt in them. The profession of thescribe was considered to be most honourable, and its rewardswere great, for no rank and no dignity w
The literature of the ancient Egyptians . d wisdom, which spread throughout all the civiHsedworld. The Books of Thoth, which late popular tradi-tion in Egypt declared to be as many as 36,525 in number,were revered by both natives and foreigners in a way whichit is difficult for us in thesedays to realise. The scribeswhostudied and copied these books were also specially honoured,for it was believed that the spirit of Thoth, the twice-greatand thrice-great god, dwelt in them. The profession of thescribe was considered to be most honourable, and its rewardswere great, for no rank and no dignity were too high for theeducated scribe. Thoth appears in the papjnri and on themonuments as an ibis-headed man, and his companion isusually a dog-headed ape called Asten. In the Hall ofthe Great Judgment he is seen holding in one hand a reedwith which he is writing on a palette the result of the THOTH, THE SECRETARY OF THE GODS 3 weighing of the heart of the dead man in the Balance. Thegods accepted the report of Thoth without question, and. Thoth, the Scribe of the Gods. rewarded the good soul and punished the bad according tohis statement. From the beginning to the end of the history 4 EGYPTIAN LITERATURE of Egypt the position of Thoth as the righteous judge,and framer of the laws by which heaven and earth, andmen and gods were governed, remained unchanged. The substances used by the Egyptians for writing uponwere very numerous, but the commonest were stone ofvarious kinds, wood, skin, and papyrus. The earhest writ-ings were probably traced upon these substances with somefluid, coloured black or red, which served as ink. Whenthe Egyptians became acquainted with the use of the metalsthey began to cut their writings in stone. The text of oneof the oldest chapters of the Book of the Dead (LXIV) issaid in the Rubric to the chapter to have been found cut upon a block of alabaster of the south during thereign of Menkaura, a king of the fourth dynasty, about3700 As time went on an
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectenglishliterature
