Among the many roles of the baboon in the religious iconography of ancient Egypt, the most familiar is his role as a manifestation of Thoth, the chief god of Hermopolis. Thoth was the scribe of the gods and the patron deity of scholarship and the administration. This depiction of the seated animal is exceedingly lively. Judging by its style, it was made during the 30th Dynasty when the animal cult was particularly popular.
Seipel, W. (ed.), Götter Menschen Pharaonen, Speyer (1993) = Dioses, Hombres, Faraones, Ciudad de México (1993) = Das Vermächtnis der Pharaonen, Zürich (1994).
Satzinger, H., Das Kunsthistorische Museum in Wien. Die Ägyptisch-Orientalische Sammlung. Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie 14. Mainz. 1994.
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