Baboon statuette with pectoral

This high-quality carved stone statuette depicts a hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) squatting on a narrow pedestal with a richly decorated cape, i.e., mane and mantle. Its paw is resting on its knee, and its head is damaged. The baboon was the sacred animal and manifestation of the god Thoth, who was the god of writing and the protector of scribes, so the statuette may have belonged to a scribe and probably have been placed in a shrine dedicated to Thoth as a votive offering in the hope of protection from the god.

The baboon wears a pectoral around his neck with the hieroglyph of Maat, the goddess of order and justice. Thot and Maat are often depicted as a pair, and together they played an important role in the afterlife of the dead. During the so-called Weighing of the Heart, a scene often represented in funerary context, the heart of the deceased was placed on a scale, while the other pan of the scale held a Maat feather, a symbol of justice. Meanwhile, the deceased made the “Negative Confession” of the sins he had not committed. The results of the weighing were recorded by Thoth, the scribe of the gods. If the scales did not move, the deceased could proceed to the afterlife. For this reason, the object could even be placed in its owner’s tomb to support reaching the afterlife and rebirth.