What does the ibis mean in ancient Egypt?

Thoth, god of writing, reckoning and the moon.

What the sign shows: A sacred ibis on a standard.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Massey’s Taht is first of all the moon god, and the black and white ibis is his bird.
Where you see it today: Millions of mummified ibises were buried as offerings to Thoth at Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 36 times across the book. Book I, p. 8: “The girl who became a frog”; Book IX, p. 563b: “The ibis, the ark and the storm”; Book V, p. 295: “Heralds of the rising Nile”.
Signs that look like it: Akh, Benu bird and Goose. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “The moon was imaged also as the ibis on whose wings the orb made its celestial ascent.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book VI, p. 387)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Ibis. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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