Kemetic writings found in Alexandria's libraries were attributed collectively to Hermes, a Greek conception of the Egyptian deity Djehuti, patron of science, learning, and language. She was believed to have incarnated herself as a sage several times, and in the beginnings of Egyptian civilization, in the form of Hermes Trismegistus, also known as the "thrice greatest" because he had perfected the three sacred disciplines of medicine, architecture, and astronomy.

Egypt regarded Djehuti as the original teacher of sacred knowledge. His task was to write the secret books of the temples and possess the magical words of power used in temple rituals. He was known as Thoth-Hermes by the Greeks living in Egypt. Imhotep was revered as a patron saint of arcane teachings in the Old Kingdom. According to Egyptian Legend, his architectural canons constructed the Saqqara and Giza monuments. The Greeks and Romans believed these complexes were temples of initiation into the highest mysteries of religion. The Legend of Thoth/Hermes Trismegistus was thus born, with all the accompanying Hermetic attributes and historical lore derived from Graeco-Roman culture.