Kore Kosmou: The Virgin of the World

Apparently the earliest of the Hermetic writings is the Kore Kosmou or Virgin of the World. It has more connection with the earlier mythology of Egypt than the other works, Isis and Horus are the teacher and taught; Thoth, Imhotep, and Ptah are all named; and Egypt is the happy center of all the world. As such Egyptian detail is absent from works of the first or second century BC, it would be reasonable to put the Kore Kosmou earlier. The Egyptian forms of the names of the gods imply an ear...