Hermes Trismegisto (in Latin: Hermes Trismegistus; Hermes, the three times great) was an Egyptian legislator and philosopher, who lived in the Ninus region around 1,330 BC or before; the estimate is from 1,500 BC to 2,500 BC. His contribution was recorded through thirty-six books on theology and philosophy, as well as six on medicine, all lost or destroyed after invasions in Egypt.
The study of his philosophy is called hermeticism. Due to the diversity of themes, it is unlikely that all of these books were written by a single person, but they represent the knowledge accumulated by the Egyptians over time. Hermetic literature today has been almost lost. It is estimated that Hermes Trismegisto was the inspiration for several ancient thinkers who succeeded him, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.