Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. I — G. R. S. Mead (1906)

'Epjirjs & fifyas Kal fifyas, line 19 ; the reading is perfectly clear, and I cannot understand the remark of Chambers (op. cit., Pref. vii.) that Hermes is called " nfyas, nfyas, ntyas " on the Kosetta Stone.

2 " Inscription grecque de Rosette," p. 3, appended to Miiller,
Frag. Hist. Grate. (Paris, 1841).

3 Ibid., p. 20.

4 Recueil des Inscriptions grecques et latines de Vfigypte, i. 283
(Paris, 1842).

8 See Pietschmann, op. sup. cit., p. 35.

6 In Greek not only is the term rplff^axap (thrice-blessed) applied to Hermes in the inscriptions of Pselcis (see Letronne's Recueil, i. 206 n.), but also in a Magical Prayer (Wessely, 1893 — p. 38, 11. 550 ff. ; Kenyon, p. 102) he is addressed as t purity as, or " thrice-great " simply.

but no early instances of their superlatives ; therefore, what ? Apparently that the term " Trismegistus " is a late invention.

But may we not legitimately suppose, in the absence of further information, that when the Egyptian had intensified his reduplicated form he had come to an end of his resources — it was the highest term of greatness that he could get out of his language? Not so when he used Greek. He could go a step further in the more plastic Hellenic tongue. Why, then, did he not use " thrice-greatest " instead of " great-and-great " on the Eosetta Stone ?

Because he was translating ad da and not its intensified form. But why did he not use the intensified form in the demotic inscription ? Well, " whys " are endless ; but may we not suppose that, as Ptolemy was being praised for his justice, which he is said to have exercised " as Hermes the great-and-great," the reduplicated form was sufficient for this attribute of the idealised priesthood, while the still more honorific title was reserved for Hermes as the personified Wisdom ? Or, again, may it not have been politic to refrain from adjectives which would have dimmed the greatness of Ptolemy?

THE CLUE OF GKIFFITHS

So I wrote in November 1899, when the major part of this chapter was first published in The Theosophical Review. Shortly afterwards, however, I came across an entirely new clue. In his Stories of the High Priests of Memphis : the Sethon of Herodotus and the Demotic Tales of Khamuas (Oxford, 1900), F. LI. Griffiths presents us with the translation of an exceedingly interesting demotic text, found on the verso of two Greek documents, the contents of which prove them to be official land-registers of the seventh year of Claudius (A.D. 46-47). There is also " strong evidence for attributing the demotic .text to some time within thirty years from that date" (p. 41). So much for the copy of the original ; but what of its contents ? As they belong to the most important cycle of folk-tates of Egypt, it is to be assumed that their form and substance is old.

In this papyrus we are told that on an occasion of great need when the Pharaoh of Egypt was being overcome at a distance by the sorceries of the Ethiopian enchanters, he was saved, and the magic of the Black Ones sent back upon them, by a certain Hor, son of Pa-neshe, most learned in the Books. Before his great trial of strength with the Ethiopian spells, we read of this Hor that:

" He entered the temple of Khmun ; he made his offerings and his libations before Thoth, the Eight-timesgreat, the Lord of Khmun, the Great God " (p. 58).

To this Griffiths appends the following note :

"'Thoth, eight times great'; the remains of the signs indicate this reading. The title, which here appears for the first time in Egyptian literature, is the equivalent of T/our/xeytoroy [thrice - greatest], a late epithet first used about the date of this MS.1 6 is /xe'ya? [great], which we may represent algebraically by a; 6 6 (2a), a common title of Thoth in late hieroglyphic, is yue'ya? Kal /ueyas [great and great] on the Eosetta Stone, but probably represents ^e-yia-ro? [greatest], and 86 is therefore T/oicr/oteytcrrof [thricegreatest], i.e. (2a)3. The famous epithet of Hermes which has puzzled commentators thus displays its mathematical formation. 66 = 3(2a) would not fill the lacuna on the papyrus, nor would it give the obviously intended reference to the name of Thoth's city, 'the Eighth,' and the mythological interpretation of that name."

1 Griffiths here refers to Pietschmann as his authority for this statement.