A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull 2018, pp. 33–96. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222.
The oldest texts attributed to Hermes are astrological texts (belonging to the 'technical' Hermetica) which may go back as far as to the second or third century BCE; see Copenhaver 1992, p. xxxiii; Bull 2018, pp. 2–3. Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BCE (see Fowden 1986, p. 3, note 11). On the other end of the chronological spectrum, the Kitāb fi zajr al-nafs ("The Book of the Rebuke of the Soul") is commonly thought to date from the twelfth century; see Van Bladel 2009, p. 226. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Fowden, Garth (1986). The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-32583-7. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-537613-5.
On the dating of the 'philosophical' Hermetica, see Copenhaver 1992, p. xliv; Bull 2018, p. 32. The sole exception to the general dating of c. 100–300 CE is The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, which may date to the first century CE (see Bull 2018, p. 9, referring to Mahé 1978–1982, vol. II, p. 278; cf. Mahé 1999, p. 101). Earlier dates have been suggested, most notably by Flinders Petrie (500–200 BCE) and Bruno H. Stricker (c. 300 BCE), but these suggestions have been rejected by most other scholars (see Bull 2018, p. 6, note 23). On the Asclepius, see Copenhaver 1992, pp. xliii–xliv, xlvii. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Mahé, Jean-Pierre (1978–1982). Hermès en Haute-Egypte. Vol. I–II. Quebec: Presses de l'Université Laval. ISBN978-0-7746-6817-0. Mahé, Jean-Pierre (1999). "The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius". In Salaman, Clement; Van Oyen, Dorine; Wharton, William D.; Mahé, Jean-Pierre (eds.). The Way of Hermes: New Translations of The Corpus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius. London: Duckworth. pp. 99–122. ISBN978-0-7156-2939-0. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3.
This is a convention established by such scholars as Van Bladel 2009, pp. 17–22; Hanegraaff 2015, pp. 180–183; Bull 2018, pp. 27–30. Other authors (especially, though not exclusively, earlier authors) may use the terms 'Hermetism' and 'Hermeticism' synonymously, more loosely referring to any philosophical system drawing on Hermetic writings. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-537613-5. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2015). "How Hermetic was Renaissance Hermetism?"(PDF). Aries. 15 (2): 179–209. doi:10.1163/15700593-01502001. S2CID170231117. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222.
A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull 2018, pp. 33–96. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222.
The oldest texts attributed to Hermes are astrological texts (belonging to the 'technical' Hermetica) which may go back as far as to the second or third century BCE; see Copenhaver 1992, p. xxxiii; Bull 2018, pp. 2–3. Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BCE (see Fowden 1986, p. 3, note 11). On the other end of the chronological spectrum, the Kitāb fi zajr al-nafs ("The Book of the Rebuke of the Soul") is commonly thought to date from the twelfth century; see Van Bladel 2009, p. 226. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Fowden, Garth (1986). The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-32583-7. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-537613-5.
On the dating of the 'philosophical' Hermetica, see Copenhaver 1992, p. xliv; Bull 2018, p. 32. The sole exception to the general dating of c. 100–300 CE is The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, which may date to the first century CE (see Bull 2018, p. 9, referring to Mahé 1978–1982, vol. II, p. 278; cf. Mahé 1999, p. 101). Earlier dates have been suggested, most notably by Flinders Petrie (500–200 BCE) and Bruno H. Stricker (c. 300 BCE), but these suggestions have been rejected by most other scholars (see Bull 2018, p. 6, note 23). On the Asclepius, see Copenhaver 1992, pp. xliii–xliv, xlvii. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Mahé, Jean-Pierre (1978–1982). Hermès en Haute-Egypte. Vol. I–II. Quebec: Presses de l'Université Laval. ISBN978-0-7746-6817-0. Mahé, Jean-Pierre (1999). "The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius". In Salaman, Clement; Van Oyen, Dorine; Wharton, William D.; Mahé, Jean-Pierre (eds.). The Way of Hermes: New Translations of The Corpus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius. London: Duckworth. pp. 99–122. ISBN978-0-7156-2939-0. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222. Copenhaver, Brian P. (1992). Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin Asclepius in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-42543-3.
This is a convention established by such scholars as Van Bladel 2009, pp. 17–22; Hanegraaff 2015, pp. 180–183; Bull 2018, pp. 27–30. Other authors (especially, though not exclusively, earlier authors) may use the terms 'Hermetism' and 'Hermeticism' synonymously, more loosely referring to any philosophical system drawing on Hermetic writings. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-537613-5. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2015). "How Hermetic was Renaissance Hermetism?"(PDF). Aries. 15 (2): 179–209. doi:10.1163/15700593-01502001. S2CID170231117. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222.
This is a convention established by such scholars as Van Bladel 2009, pp. 17–22; Hanegraaff 2015, pp. 180–183; Bull 2018, pp. 27–30. Other authors (especially, though not exclusively, earlier authors) may use the terms 'Hermetism' and 'Hermeticism' synonymously, more loosely referring to any philosophical system drawing on Hermetic writings. Van Bladel, Kevin (2009). The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-537613-5. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2015). "How Hermetic was Renaissance Hermetism?"(PDF). Aries. 15 (2): 179–209. doi:10.1163/15700593-01502001. S2CID170231117. Bull, Christian H. (2018). The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004370845. ISBN978-90-04-37084-5. S2CID165266222.