In my research I came across the Emerald Tablets of Thoth. The tablets, if they are translated correctly, are the basis for the story line of Destiny. Thoth is an Atlantean Priest King who created the tablets, if dated correctly, around 36,000 BC/BCE. Thoth himself was consider a god by most people and his last known incarnation was Hermes (Thrice-Born).
The Tablets themselves are very remarkable and made from a substance that is not affected by ionization, the process of decay. Even the blood is affected by ionization, it's what causes our bodies to deteriorate and become prone to more diseases. At first, the tablets translate as the earliest known religion on the planet and quite possibly the base structure for every religion ever known to man. However, after reading the tablets a few times I started seeing similarities between the story on them and Destiny's story.
Before delving into the similarities between the tablets and Destiny I feel that a brief description of the tablet's story is necessary . Thoth writes about his journey from being simply a man to being an immortal who has learned of the secret mysteries. Throughout the tablets he mentions learning the secret of life and being freed from the bonds of death and the circle of life. Thoth speaks to us directly after a he found his own way to the light, trying to guide us and teach us to walk the path to the light as well. He states that the body and darkness seek to bind us and keep our free soul tethered as a test until we too find the path to the light. Thoth outlines the information to allow us to enter the halls of Amenti and seek out his wisdom. Stating he intentionally left the Great Pyramid of Giza blank as a clue to us to find and gain access to the halls.
I strongly encourage everyone who reads this to go find the tablets and read them. You can find them on crystallinks.com or you can just search for them. No matter how you find them, they are sure to provide great insight into Destiny.
Now onto the good stuff, what do the Emerald Tablets of Thoth and Destiny have in common? The enemies of Destiny are called the Hive, Fallen, Vex, and Cabal. In tablet 8, The Key of Mystery, Thoth speaks of the "HOUNDS of the Barriers" who guard a place where time does not exist. They can only move through angles and you must travel in circles to save your soul from being imprisoned by them. The Vex including Aetheon guard The Vault of Glass to protect the barriers of the past and future. So, Aetheon is the good guy after all and guess who the bad guy is then. The Black Garden is their prison camp where they keep all the evil souls who attempted to breach the barriers and failed. So, the heart of the garden saw you the guardian as a way out and it activated the sentinels. What better way to escape then to have someone kill the guards for you.
On to our next enemy the Hive, more specifically the Thrall. In tablet 8 Thoth states "For know ye, ever the dwellers, seek such Souls to hold in their thrall." This is where I read between the lines and made the connection. Thrall means to be a servant or slave physically or mentally. Slave to the Darkness surrounded by the Abyss. Crota's End begins in The Abyss and mostly Thrall inhabit it. Thoth even states that he ventured into the Abyss to obtain more wisdom.
The Fallen come into play as Thoth describes the rise and fall of races, including man. So, in Destiny the Fallen describe this continuous process of rising and falling. "Man has risen and man has fallen as ever new waves of consciousness flow from the great abyss below us toward the Sun of their goal."
As I don't want to spoil all of the story of Destiny I will stop here. However, you may be saying to yourself that this proves nothing. This is just one man's opinion and it doesn't hold water. So, I say to you go to crystallinks.com or search the web for The Emerald Tablets of Thoth and decided for yourself if Bungie took it's story for Destiny from them. Here are some keywords to look out for if you do decide to read them:
Thrall
Hounds of the Barriers
Fallen
Darkness
Light
Dark Brothers
Light Brothers
The Nine
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I LOVE ancient religions and stuff like this. I had no idea these tablets even existed. Will definitely read up on them, very curious to see the further correlation. What's almost as cool is that someone like yourself (I'm picturing a Indiana Jones-esque individual) with the knowledge you have is actually playing Destiny with us.