Original: Serpentine, Plaster replica

Original: 664-332 BCE

Egypt

Gipsformerei, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Details

Culture/Civilisation

Ancient Egypt

Theme

Writing

Subtheme

Writing and the Divine

Display Location

Coomaraswamy Hall

Findspot

Egypt

Measurements

17 x 9 x (dia.) 9 cm

Description

Thoth, ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom represented as a baboon, was believed to have invented writing. Ancient Egyptians observed the intelligent behaviour of wild baboons and interpretated their calls as chants to the rising sun, the chief God Ra. As a scribe, Thoth registered the verdict during the ‘Weighing of the Heart’— an important rite of passage, as the dead moved into the afterlife.

Related Objects

Sarasvati (replica)

Part of a sundial

Scribal palette

Land grant of King Pravarasena II

Duck Weight