The ancient Egyptians were polytheists who respected and considered all sciences to be associated with the gods. Surveying was not to be left without its own god. Thoth was the Egyptian moon diety who developed into the god of wisdom and was associated with magic, music, medicine, astronomy, geometry, drawing, writing and surveying. He was also the scribe of the gods and patron of all scribes. Thoth was the measurer of the earth as well as keeper and recorder of all knowledge, including the Book of the Dead. Thoth was normally depicted with the body of a man and the head of an ibis. Because the ibis was capable of destroying venomous serpents, and was held in such veneration by ancient Egyptians, killing an ibis was a capital offense.

The Egyptian surveyors known as "rope-stretchers" probably were the first practicing surveyors in history. They began their training as scribes, and once finished with their training they were employed under the Pharaoh in order to reset boundaries and layout tombs and monuments. The Nile river, for example, would flood its banks every year, taking away land and covering up monuments. The rope-stretchers would have the task of replacing the monuments and recording the loss.