December 13, 2003

The ancient Egyptians worshipped the hamadryas baboon as the representative of Thoth, the god of science and art of writing. Thus, the baboon is also named the 'sacred baboon'.
posted by hama7 20 years ago
  • Great post, hama7.
  • Thoth, the god of science and art of writing. Not to be confused with S.K. Thoth.
  • I found myself wondering why a baboon would represent an ibis headed god. The two seem so different. This site http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/thoth.htm says it because they both chatter at the sun or moon: "Thoth was usually depicted as an ibis headed man or as a full ibis, or with the face of a dog-headed baboon and the body of a man or, again, as a full dog-headed baboon. The ibis, it is thought, had a crescent shaped beak, linking the bird to the moon. The dog-headed baboon, on the other hand, was a night animal that was seen by the Egyptians who would greet the sun with chattering noises each morning just as Thoth, the moon god, would greet Ra, the sun god, as he rose. " (Sorry, I haven't had the courage to try html stuff, yet.)
  • (Sorry, I haven't had the courage to try html stuff, yet.) You can do it, very easily, my friend. Here's a link that might help: Webmonkey, Monkeys galore. Live long and prosper, path. More skills to you! Thanks, homunculus, for always getting it.
  • Thank you, hama7!
  • Ah, another fine post. Monkeys, baboons, Egyptian mythos, what more could a simian want?