The ibis-headed Lord of time, writing and wisdom, Thoth was said to have invented hieroglyphic script and negotiated five extra days from the moon in order to perfect the 365-day year. He first taught humans "to speak clearly". He was the guardian of mysteries.

As a result of these mythological connections, Thoth was the patron of writers, teachers, accountants and all persons involved in the dissemination of knowledge, writing and calculation.

He was also the patron of record keeping, libraries and the foundation of buildings. His partner in this work was the Goddess Seshat, co-creator of hieroglyphic writing.

Thoth's consort was Ma'at, goddess of Truth and Order. He stood at the side of her scales in the underworld's "Hall of DoubleTruth". Here he recorded the verdicts against the souls of the dead, which the god Anubis delivered after weighing the deceased's heart with Ma'at's feather of truth.

Thoth is the nominal head of the Ogdoad (a group of eight Gods) honored at the city of Hermopolis, overseeing four pairs of natural Powers: Light/Eternity, Earth/Darkness, Water/Potentiality and Wind/Hiddenness. The Egyptians spoke of a 'Book of Thoth', which would give a person who read it the power to become the most powerful magician in the world.

Thoth's theophany was the sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica). The Egyptians revered these birds. Flocks flying downstream from the south announced the coming of the Nile flood. Poking their beaks into the Nile, ibises looked like little scribes dipping pens into ink. (They also eat the mud snails which host the parasite causing the debilitating disease bilharzia).