Limestone Statue of a Baboon

Description

Culture: [Egyptian](http://n2t.net/ark:/99152/p06c6g353gq) Material: Limestone Dims: H 19.5) Accession No: MG 005 Current Location: [The Hunt Museum](https://www.huntmuseum.com/), [Limerick](https://www.geonames.org/7778675/limerick-city.html). A baboon [carved](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300047203) from limestone, squats with forearms resting on its knees. A hole in the crown indicates a headdress, a gilded wood sun disc or moon. The smooth face and shoulders indicates the [Later Period]( http://n2t.net/ark:/99152/p03wskd47fw) rather than a New Kingdom hamadryas. The baboon was a manifestation of the god Thoth, a moon deity, who personified divine speech and was a god of writing, mathematics, astronomy and healing. Baboons were common at the animal necropolis in [North Saqqara](https://www.geonames.org/360995/giza.html).[More](https://www.huntmuseum.com/explore/item/92743d4b-02fc-3312-8d44-0adde8912a37/?s%3Dbaboon&pos=1).