Baboon with a wedjat eye

Unknown

664–525 B.C. · Faience · Egyptian Art

From the beginning of Egyptian history, the baboon had a role in Egyptian religion. Initially, he was known as a deity called the "Great White One" (that is, the moon), but soon this god was conflated with Thoth, the better known ibis-headed god of writing and recording. Thoth's responsibilities included the calendar, which in ancient Egypt was lunar based, facilitating the integration of the two deities. Baboon amulets probably were offerings to shrines honoring Thoth, but could also have been placed with the deceased as a representative of the deity who recorded Osiris' judgment. This baboon holds a wedjat eye, the eye stolen from Horus and healed by Thoth.

Artist

Unknown

Date

664–525 B.C.

Medium

Faience

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1944