Taautus
Encyclopedia
Taautus of Byblos, according to the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon
, was the inventor of writing
and son of Misor
who was bequeathed the land of Egypt
by Cronus
.
Sanchuniathon and the translation of his work by Philo
were transmitted to us by Eusebius, in his work Caesarea's Praeparatio. Eusebius says that Philo placed Sanchuniathon's works into nine books. In the introduction to the first book he makes this preface concerning Sanchuniathon:
Philo further says that Taautus wrote the work Commentaries, in which he discussed the creation.
Sanchuniathon
Sanchuniathon is the purported Phoenician author of three lost works originally in the Phoenician language, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos, according to the Christian bishop Eusebius of Caesarea...
, was the inventor of writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
and son of Misor
Misor
Misor was the name of a deity appearing in a theogeny provided by Roman era Phoenician writer Philo of Byblos in an account preserved by Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica, and attributed to the still earlier Sanchuniathon. He was one of two children of the deities Amunos and Magos. The other...
who was bequeathed the land of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
by Cronus
Cronus
In Greek mythology, Cronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky...
.
Sanchuniathon and the translation of his work by Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
were transmitted to us by Eusebius, in his work Caesarea's Praeparatio. Eusebius says that Philo placed Sanchuniathon's works into nine books. In the introduction to the first book he makes this preface concerning Sanchuniathon:
“These things being so, Sanchuniathon, who was a man of much learning and great curiosity, and desirous of knowing the earliest history of all nations from the creation of the world, searched out with great care the history of Taautus, knowing that of all men under the sun Taautus was the first who thought of the invention of letters, and began the writing of records: and he laid the foundation, as it were, of his history, by beginning with him, whom the Egyptians called Thoyth, and the Alexandrians ThothThothThoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
, translated by the Greeks into HermesHermesHermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
.”
Philo further says that Taautus wrote the work Commentaries, in which he discussed the creation.