Baboon amulet

Amulets held magical power for their owner: they served an apotropaic, i.e., protective and often healing function as personal items worn as part of jewellery, but they could also be carried as grave goods to support afterlife.

This amulet depicts a squatting hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) with a stylised cape, its paw is resting on its knee, while its male member is clearly visible between the legs. There is a suspension ring on the back.

The baboon was the sacred animal and manifestation of the god Thoth. Theriomorph amulets representing the god became common from the end of the Ramesside period. The stylised, smooth surfaces date this object to the Late Period.

The owners of amulets hoped to benefit from the magical powers of the god they identified with. Amulets could also be seen as a sign of honour to the god. Thoth was the god of writing and the protector of scribes, so this amulet was probably made for a scribe. When placed in in a tomb, it provided support for the owner in afterlife rebirth. Thot’s role in the afterlife was crucial. According to the best-known funerary text, the Book of the Dead, which provides guidance in the afterlife, during the so-called Weighing of the Heart, Thoth, as the scribe of the gods, recorded the results of the weighing. The baboon’s relationship with the sun is also important in the context of renewal. The animal greets the sunrise in the morning with a peculiar ritual thus the baboon was thought to possess a special knowledge that could support the deceased in their transformation from Osiris to Ra and in rebirth. This symbolism is reinforced by the material of Egyptian faience, whose reflective quality and luminosity are also associated with the sun god and whose greenish colour was a symbol of youth and renewal.