Tat

TAHT

greek: Τάτ · egyptian: Ḏḥwty

Definition

Tat is the chief pupil and conversation-partner of Hermes Trismegistus in the Corpus Hermeticum, the collection of Greek Hermetic treatises. Hermes addresses him as "my child," "my son," or "O Tat" across CH IV (the krater), V, VIII, X (the Key), XII, XIII (on rebirth), XIV, and XVII. The name Tat is the Greek form of the Egyptian god Thoth (Ḏḥwty, Coptic Thōout); the Hermetic texts make Tat a son of Hermes rather than Hermes himself, since Hermes Trismegistus already blends the Greek Hermes with the Egyptian Thoth.

In Tradition

In Hermetic-Egyptian scholarship — Copenhaver and Fowden — Tat is the figure who keeps the Egyptian Thoth alive inside the Greek Hermetic corpus of late antiquity. He is one of the three standard pupils of Hermes, with Asclepius (the Greek name for Imhotep) and Ammon (the Egyptian Amun). The father-and-son framing stands for the handing-on of Hermetic knowledge through initiation, not for biological descent. Tat-the-pupil is a Greco-Egyptian, Alexandrian literary creation, not the god Thoth himself.

In Practice

Tat is the pupil-figure that gives many Hermetic discourses their shape: in CH IV Hermes initiates Tat into the doctrine of Mind through the image of the krater, a mixing-bowl; in CH XIII Hermes leads Tat through the secret dialogue on rebirth; in the Latin Asclepius, Tat stands with Hermes Trismegistus, Asclepius, and Hammon (Amun) in the four-man sanctuary scene. Copenhaver's Introduction separates the "General Discourses" addressed to Tat — which take up physical and everyday topics — from the secret dialogues (the CH XIII rebirth, the Asclepius theology). The name Tat calls up two things at once: the Egyptian djed-pillar, a sign of stability, and the god Thoth. In the Byzantine Manethonian genealogy, Hermes Trismegistus — the second Hermes — is named "father of Tat," fixing Tat into the Hellenistic-Egyptian Hermetic line of transmission.

Historical Origin

Tat is attested across the Greek Corpus Hermeticum (composed c. 2nd-3rd century CE in Alexandria, and attributed pseudepigraphically to Hermes Trismegistus) and the Latin Asclepius (c. 4th century CE). The modern scholarly treatments are Copenhaver, Hermetica (1992), and Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes (1986). The Byzantine Manethonian genealogy preserves the formula "Hermes Trismegistus, father of Tat." The Greek and Latin originals are public domain; modern translations are copyrighted.

Further Reading

  • Brian Copenhaver, Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius
  • Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind