Thoth and the Game of Moonlight

The God of Wisdom

Thoth is the scribe of the gods. He has the head of an ibis (a bird with a long, curved beak) and carries a palette and a reed pen. He is the one who invented writing, medicine, and mathematics. But more importantly, he is the master of Time.

The Problem of the Curse

The story begins with Nut, the Sky Goddess. She wanted to have children, but the Sun God, Ra, put a curse on her. He declared that Nut could not give birth on any day of the year (which was 360 days back then).

Nut was heartbroken, so she went to Thoth for help. Thoth knew he couldn't break Ra’s curse directly, so he decided to use his intellect to outsmart the laws of the universe.

The Gamble for Time

Thoth went to Khonsu, the Moon God, and challenged him to a game of Senet (an ancient Egyptian board game). The stakes were high: they weren't playing for gold, but for moonlight.

Thoth was a brilliant player. He won again and again. Each time he won, he took a small piece of Khonsu’s light. By the end of the game, Thoth had gathered enough moonlight to create five extra days.

The Creation of the Calendar

Thoth added these five days to the end of the original 360-day year. Because these days did not "belong" to the official calendar, they were outside of Ra’s curse. During these five days, Nut was finally able to give birth to her children: Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys.

This is why the Egyptian calendar became 365 days long, and why the moon loses its brightness every month—it is still "paying back" the light that Thoth won in that legendary game.