Figure of a Baboon Playing the Lute
© Bruce M. White, 2021

96-Figure of a Baboon Playing the Lute

Title Figure of a Baboon Playing the Lute
Era Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22–Dynasty 26, 943–525 BCE
Medium Faience
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.564

Animals playing musical instruments appear in Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period. The baboon crouches on his hindquarters and plays the lute, an instrument introduced in the New Kingdom. Composed of spotted faience, this figurine likely dates to the Third Intermediate period or later when workshops producing spotted faience operated in the eastern Delta.

A recent interpretation suggests these figures relate to the myth of “The Return of the Faraway Goddess”.1 In this myth, the feline goddess Bastet was angry at the sun god Re and left Egypt for Nubia. Re sent the baboon god Thoth to entice Bastet with fables. Musicians and dancers accompanied Bastet back to Egypt, and her arrival brought good fortune to Egypt.

MH

  1. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/550062?ft=44.4.17&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=1, MMA 44.4.17. ↩︎

Figure of a Baboon Playing the Lute
© Bruce M. White, 2021