Origin: Egypt
Circa: 664 BC to 525 BC
Dimensions: 3.25" (8.3cm) high
Collection: Egyptian Antiquities
Style: Saite
Medium: Bronze
A number of primates are depicted throughout the history of ancient Egyptian art, and these include at least two species of the baboon. These can generally be distinguished from one another by the presence of a long mane, often called a mantle, which is a zoological feature peculiar to the hamadryas baboon, called , j’n, in the ancient Egyptian language. Members of this species were regarded as sacred from the time of the Predynastic Period, as the remains of baboon cults from that epoch confirm. In time, this primate came to represent a hypostasis, or manifestation, of Thoth, the god of writing and patron of scribes. One can, therefore, suggest that the mortise on the top of the head of our example was originally fitted with a headdress of a different material representing the sun disc framed by a crescent moon, which is the tradition emblem of that god in such representations.

Antiquities
Ancient Egyptian