Monkey amulet

The Egyptian faience amulet depicts a Chlorocebus aethiops, or grivet, an African savanna monkey, squatting on a pedestal with his male member clearly visible between its legs. The grivet has been known in Egypt since prehistoric times, and from the New Kingdom, it was certainly imported from the South and from ancient Punt, i.e., today’s Eritrea. The grivet is often portrayed as a pet of the female elite, and serves as a decoration for personal items, when in reality, keeping the animal unleashed is dangerous. Based on the behaviour of the males, the monkey may have symbolised masculinity, and thus, when worn as an amulet, it could have magically assisted in the reproductive cycle, both in this world, in birth, and the afterlife, in rebirth. On the other hand, females protect their offsprings for a long period of time, so maternal care could also have given the amulet fertility associations, just as the greenish colour of the monkey and the material of faience is symbolic of renewal. The animal lifts its paw to its mouth. In such cases, the depictions often include the fruit of the dum palm, also from Punt, which again symbolised masculinity as a grave good.