Beneath the veils of forgotten history and scattered myth, there exists a profound story of a woman named Scota: a name echoing through Gaelic lore, pharaonic records, and the very soil of Ireland and Scotland. She is no mere figure of legend. Her journey represents a convergence of Egyptian mysticism, royal bloodlines, sacred language, and the founding of esoteric traditions that shaped the Western world.
This is the full account; integrating legend, archaeology, etymology, ancient rites, and the oral tradition, of Scota, the Egyptian princess whose legacy carved the foundation of Scotland, Gaelic culture, and perhaps the very rites of Freemasonry.
Who Was Scota?
Scota (or Scotia) is said to have been the daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh, sometimes identified as Pharaoh Nectanebo II, though some traditions trace her lineage further back to Akhenaten or even Thutmose III, the initiate-pharaoh of the mystery schools. Irish and Scottish chronicles, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland), claim she married a nobleman named Niul, and together they had a son named Goidel Glas, a pivotal figure credited with synthesizing the best of ancient tongues to create the Gaelic language.
Her story is preserved not just in folklore, but in medieval manuscripts like the Scotichronicon, the Annals of the Four Masters, and the Historia Brittonum.
The Pharaoh Who Knew: Purposeful Exile
I believe it was no accident that Scota’s father sent her to the northwestern lands. Her journey was deliberate, not exilic. Whether fleeing Persian invasion, avoiding upcoming prophesied plagues, or fulfilling a spiritual mission, it is clear her father knew of the land across the western seas. In several versions of the Irish mythological cycle, notably in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, there are implications that Scota’s Egyptian family (especially her father or ancestors) may have had ancestral memory or knowledge of the northwestern lands, and that the journey was not an exile but a return to a remembered or prophesied homeland. This suggests not ony advanced maritime navigation, but also Atlantean or pre-diluvian memory and/or secret Egyptian knowledge of northwestern lands. (possibly referenced in Plato’s Timaeus)
Scota’s mission may have been to preserve sacred knowledge, seed a new priestly lineage, or initiate a new cultural fusion in a time of planetary transition.
Scotia's Grave or Scota's Grave south of Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland
Landmarks and Archaeological Traces
Scotia’s Grave: In County Kerry, Ireland, a site called Gleann Scoithín (Valley of Scota) marks her alleged burial site. A dolmen nearby reinforces the sacredness of the area.
Part of the Milesian Migration Narrative
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Scota’s descendants, the Milesians, journeyed from Egypt to Spain, and then sailed to Ireland as part of a divinely guided conquest. During this final voyage Scota joined them (either as a matriarch or as part of a later wave). She is said to have died in battle upon landing in Ireland, fighting the Tuatha Dé Danann. Her body was buried at what became known as Gleann Scoithín.
“There she fell in battle and was buried in a glen that bears her name to this day.”
Scotia’s Glen: In Argyll, Scotland, a region known as Glen Scota continues to bear her name.
Egyptian-style artifacts and motifs have been found in megalithic sites across the British Isles, including spiral symbols, solar disks, and initiatic carvings.
The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) is said to have been brought by her lineage, a stone linked to Jacob, the biblical patriarch, and possibly the same as the Stone of Scone, used in Scottish coronations.
The Esoteric History of the Milesians
The Milesians, Scota’s descendants and the final wave of settlers in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, are far more than wandering conquerors. Esoterically, they are portrayed as bearers of a divine mission: to reintegrate the knowledge of Atlantis and Egypt into the western lands of memory. Their name may derive from Míl Espáine (Soldier of Spain), but their spiritual lineage traces back to Niul and Scota, and even further to pre-diluvian initiates.
In hidden traditions, the Milesians were not just bloodline heirs, but initiates of harmonic science, keepers of sacred geometry, and the preservers of frequency-encoded memory systems. Their journey from Egypt to Iberia to Ireland mirrors a spiritual pilgrimage, with each land anchoring part of the mystery:
Egypt: Solar knowledge, resurrection science, and priesthood structures
Iberia: Transitional land, merging solar and lunar streams
Ireland: The emerald heart, receptacle of encoded memory, and gateway to the inner realms
Their landing in Ireland was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, and their kingship was sealed not merely by arms but by ritual sovereignty, tested against the Tuatha Dé Danann, sealed by Scota’s blood, and aligned with the cycles of the stars.
Milesian kings and druids carried forward remnants of the Atlantean Mystery Schools, cloaked in bardic lore and preserved in the oral traditions of the Gaels. Through them, the sacred language (Gaelic), the rituals of kingship, and the geometric encoding of the land continued, culminating in later expressions such as the Freemasonic rites and Rosicrucian alchemical systems.
In this light, the Milesians were restorers, not invaders, a bridge between epochs, destined to preserve and eventually reactivate humanity’s lost spiritual inheritance.
The Tuatha Dé Danann, The Milesians, and Scota
The Battle with the Tuatha Dé Danann: Sovereignty and Sacrifice
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, when Scota and her people (Milesians) arrived in Ireland, they encountered the Tuatha Dé Danann, a mystical and powerful race who held dominion over the land. If we accept the premise that Thoth and the Tuatha Dé Danann were both Atlantean offshoots (as some esoteric traditions assert), they may have represented two arms of the same ancient mystery school, with different functions.
Thoth-Hermes Line vs Tuatha Dé Danann Line
Thoth-Hermes: Solar knowledge, sacred geometry, written language, resurrection science, elemental magic, time-folding, nature portals, inner realms
Tuatha Dé Danann: Focused on outward expansion and codification, (Egypt, temples, priesthoods) and on preservation of the Earth’s frequency and subtle planes. (Ireland, Sidhe)
Some esoteric traditions suggest that both the Tuatha Dé Danann and Scota’s lineage descend from Atlantean or pre-Diluvian initiatory schools, possibly even branches of the same ancient order. In this view, the clash was not true opposition, but a sacred trial: a test of worthiness, where the new solar priesthood had to prove itself before the elder elemental guardians would retreat and allow the next age to unfold. Thus, Scota’s death was not the result of betrayal, but the closing act in a cosmic ritual of succession between twin lineages of ancient wisdom.
This encounter represents more than war, it is a mythic clash between solar priesthood and elemental magic, between incoming Atlantean-Egyptian knowledge and the ancient fae-like wisdom of the Tuatha. The Tuatha Dé Danann, upon defeat, did not disappear but retreated into the Otherworld, becoming the Sidhe, guardians of the inner realms.
Scota is said to have died in this battle, falling as a sacred sacrifice during the conflict for sovereignty. Her burial in Gleann Scoithín is both literal and symbolic; the blood of Egypt sanctifying the soil of Ireland.
Thus, Scota’s death is a symbolic merging of traditions and her line carrying forward the mantle of sovereignty while absorbing the land’s ancient spirit.
The Battle with the Tuatha Dé Danann: Sovereignty and Sacrifice
According to the Lebor Gabála Érenn, when Scota and her people arrived in Ireland, they encountered the Tuatha Dé Danann, a mystical and powerful race who held dominion over the land. The battle ensued not out of hatred, but as part of a divine rite of succession. The Milesians, guided by prophecy, sought to claim Ireland as their destined homeland.
Goídel Glas and the Birth of The Gaelic Language
Scota's son, Goidel Glas, is credited with merging sacred language traditions, including Hebrew, Egyptian, Berber, and proto-Celtic, into Gaelic, a language said to carry sonic codes of divine origin.
The etymology of "Goidelic" or "Gaelic" itself points to intentional linguistic alchemy; the crafting of a resonant, living language. In legend, Goidel Glas was healed from a serpent’s bite by Moses, suggesting an embedded Hebraic origin and covenant.
Scota’s Legacy: Founding of Scotland
The name Scotland derives directly from Scota’s name. Early Gaelic settlers, descendants of Scota, were known as the Scoti. These Scoti brought with them not only their name but Egyptian rites, priesthood structures, and solar theology.
The Dalriada kingdom in western Scotland is one of the earliest historically verified domains of these Scoti migrants.
The Egyptian Mystery School Connection
Scota is often depicted not only as royalty but as an initiate, trained in the Egyptian Mystery Schools, possibly at Karnak or under the teachings of Thoth-Hermes. Her transmission of that knowledge westward laid the groundwork for:
The Druidic orders
The oral bardic traditions
Sacred geometry in stone circles (linked to Heliopolitan geometry)
Initiatic paths that would reemerge as Freemasonry centuries later
Freemasonry’s reverence for Egypt, such as the pillars of Boaz and Jachin, the Eye of Horus, and the the unfinished pyramid, may stem from Scota’s original teachings carried in oral and symbolic form.
Myth as Memory: Esoteric Interpretations
In the esoteric view, Scota’s journey represents the exodus of sacred memory. She is a guardian of solar knowledge, a Sophia-figure preserving wisdom through cyclical cataclysm.
She may symbolize the feminine vessel of initiatory knowledge, the blending of Atlantean, Egyptian, and Gaelic bloodlines, and a key in humanity’s reconnection to its pre-cataclysmic past
Her descendants, via the Milesians and the Scoti, carried encoded memory through oral tradition, megalithic construction, and sound.
Echoes in Modern Culture and Bloodlines
The Royal Family of Britain has been linked, by some esoteric genealogies, to the line of Scota
The rite of kingship in ancient Scotland involved symbolic death and rebirth; a motif echoed in Mystery School initiation rites
The Freemasonic tradition regards Egypt as its cradle, and Scota may be the unseen matriarchal link between Egypt and the West
Conclusion: The Return of the Forgotten Queen
Scota is not a mere relic of myth, she is an active archetype, a carrier of memory and divine order. Her presence lives in the stones of Tara, the language of Gaelic, and the esoteric symbols etched into Freemasonic lore.
As the veil continues to thin and humanity rediscovers its hidden past, Scota’s story demands to be retold. Not as fable, but as encoded truth.
She is the mother of nations, the seed of sacred language, and the bridge between the Nile and the North.
Suggested Reading & Sources:
Lebor Gabála Érenn (Book of Invasions)
Scotichronicon by Walter Bower
The Irish Origins of Civilization by Michael Tsarion
The Stone of Destiny by Ian R. Hamilton
When Scotland Was Jewish by Hirschman & Yates
Symbols of Freemasonry by Daniel Béresniak
The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant by Graham Phillips
The Mystery of the Cathedrals by Fulcanelli (for symbolic resonance)
Research on Scotia’s Grave – Kerry Heritage Society
Esoteric traditions of Egyptian Mystery Schools
Oral Gaelic traditions and bardic genealogies