Staetite baboon. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. Purchased by Wellcome at auction in 1930. 52mm high. Baboons were said to greet the sun every day by clapping and shouting, they were thus associated with rebirth. Some were included in burials. See C-H Blanquet 'Typologie de la bouteille de nouvel an' in Cl. Obsomer, A-L. Oosthoek (ed) "Amosiades Melanges offerts au professeur Claude Vanderslyen par ses anciens etudiants", Louvain-la-Neuve, 1992, p49-54; Yamani, S. 2002 New Year's bottles from Tell Marqula (Dakhla Oasis). Bulletin De L'Instit Francais D'Archeologie Orientale Vol 102 p425-436. Baboons are also said to accomapany the barque of Re in spell 126 of the 'Book of the Dead' 'O ye (4) baboons who sit at the prow of the barque of Re, who cause truth to ascend to the Lord of the Universe, who judge both the needy and the rich, who gladden the gods with the scorching breath of their mouths....May ye let me penetrate the underworld and enter into Rosetau and pass through the secret portals of the west... (Translation from Allen 1974)
