Thoth is depicted here as scribe of the gods, and is credited with the invention of writing and alphabets (ie. hieroglyphs) themselves. Thoth's qualities also led to him being identified by the Greeks with their closest matching god Hermes, with whom Thoth was eventually combined, as Hermes Trismegistus. Thus hermetic studies always lead to Thoth.

Thoth was inserted in many tales as the wise counsel and persuader, and his association with learning, and measurement, led him to be connected with Seshat, the earlier deification of wisdom, who was said to be his daughter, or variably his wife.