The moon was regarded as the celestial abode of Thut, the Egyptian Hermes, who, in his temple upon earth, in the midst of the oft-mentioned and highly revered Ibis-city of Khmun-Hermopolis, on the left bank of the river in Middle Egypt, was invoked by his disciples and adorers as 'the thought and will of the sun-god Ra,' his heavenly father.  According to ancient custom and usage, the name of this god, and that of his shining emblem in heaven, was designedly chosen, not only as the family name of king Aahmes and of his mother 'Aahhotep,' but also of their descendants, named Thut-mes, 'child of Thut,' whose sovereignty ushered in the prosperous times of the Eighteenth Dynasty. (A History of Egypt Under the Pharaohs, Brugsch, 1881)