Baboons in Ancient Egypt: Origin, Mummies, Art, Religion | Middle East And North Africa

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BABOONS IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Babi

Hamadryas baboon was considered sacred. These dog-faced and sometimes aggressive primates were mummified and portrayed in images in temples and monoliths. Sacred ones were kept at temples and enshrined in death at catacombs, where priest prayed and made offerings to them. The Egyptians may have succeeded in domesticating baboons as well as cranes, ibex, gazelles and oryx.

The Egyptians not only mummified their rulers, they also made mummies of baboons, ibises, cats, dogs, rabbits, Nile perch, bulls, vultures, elephants, donkeys, lizards, shrews, scarab beetles, horses, gazelles, crocodiles, snakes, catfish, ducks and falcons. Mummified baboons were found in 1905, eroding out of the necropolis Gabbanat el-Qurud, in the so-called Valley of the Monkeys, to the southwest of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Bones of adults, infants and young of two species: the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) and the olive baboon (Papio anubis) were found. [Source: Mindy Weisberger, CNN, December 8, 2023]

The Valley of the Monkeys, at Luxor's western bank of the Nile, was also known for its depictions of baboons on tomb walls discovered nearby. The creatures were missing their canine teeth, but, unlike other mummified baboon specimens found from the same timeframe, they were neither entombed with noblemen of the time nor found in group catacombs, raising questions for decades about how they got there — and why. [Source: Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Business Insider, November 5, 2023]

Ancient Egyptians kept baboons in captivity had their sharp incisors removed so they were less dangerous and mummified them as offerings to the gods. Gisela Kopp, a geneticist at the University of Konstanz in Germany, told Live Science It's a little odd that ancient Egyptians took such interest in baboons. They tend to steal crops and break into homes looking for food, making them difficult to live with, she said. "The people who coexist with baboons don't really like them," Kopp told Live Science. [Source: Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, November 21, 2023]

Baboons in Ancient Egyptian Religion

Baboons are thought to have played a role in ancient Egyptian rituals. They were associated with the god Babi, a god of the underworld and the deity Thoth, who was sometimes depicted with the head of a baboon. Anthropologist Nathaniel Dominy from Dartmouth College told Business Insider for ancient Egyptians, baboons appear to have served a dual spiritual purpose. The creatures are often shown with their arms raised toward the sun in what he described as a "posture of adoration" toward the rising sun, the Egyptian god Rah. "Some researchers speculate that baboons would naturally orient their bodies toward the rising sun and that they would vocalize at the rising sun," Dominy said. "And the idea is that ancient Egyptians would have seen this natural behavior, and it would have resonated strongly with them because the Egyptians would greet the rising sun, and they would sing to the rising sun. And so this might have been just this amazing, tantalizing animal that was connected to their own religious practices." [Source: Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Business Insider, November 5, 2023]

Baboons were also frequently depicted as the physical embodiment of the god Thoth, the Egyptian moon deity and the god associated with wisdom and war. "So they can both represent the moon god and the god of wisdom, but they are also showing their loyalty to the Sun god, Rah," Dominy told Insider. "And for us, at this point, to understand that is difficult, but it just seemed like the importance of baboons is this kind of ability for them to bridge both the sun and the moon, the two most important celestial bodies for the Egyptians."

The religious significance may have driven the Egyptian's desire to import, raise, and preserve the creatures, Dominy and Kopp hypothesize. Their canine teeth, so powerful they can slice a human thigh to the bone in a single bite, were likely removed as a safety measure. Though it remains unclear if the buyers or sellers of the baboons removed them, Dominy said there was clear evidence that the teeth were removed early in life, as new bone had begun to regrow over the gap left by the extraction.

Baboons in Ancient Egyptian Art

Statuette of a worshipping baboon, Egypt, 13th century BC

Candida Moss wrote in the Daily Beast: Baboons can be found on statues, jewelry, amulets, and in temple artwork. Some baboons may have been pets, others are shown in art working as police animals and fruit harvesters, and many are associated with royal tombs. They even achieved quasi-divine status, being particularly associated with the baboon-headed god Thoth (who is also regularly depicted with an Ibis head), who was associated with the moon and wisdom. [Source: Candida Moss, Daily Beast, January 4, 2021]

The image of the male baboon seated with hands on knees and surrounded by a lunar crescent is an archetypal image that was used in Egyptian artwork for a millennium. Figures of the seated baboon spread throughout the Mediterranean in the Middle Bronze Age, but the further you travel away from Egypt the less realistic the image of the baboon gets.

Dominy told Business Insider that baboons are often conspicuously missing from African artworks of the time due to their reputation as pests in their natural habitats but they hold special significance in Egypt."Throughout Africa, you'll see loads of elephants and giraffes, and all kinds of products representing animals, but very rarely baboons. And it's because, in general, baboons are not well-liked. They raid your crops, they destroy your livelihood, they are harbingers of disease," Dominy said. "I remember going to Egypt for the first time and just being astounded by the number of baboons being depicted on temple walls, or in the tombs of nobles you'd see large statues of baboons at various temples. And they even mummified baboons, which any primatologist will tell you is puzzling."[Source: Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Business Insider, November 5, 2023]

Baboons — the Only Animals Not Native to Egypt That Were Mummified

Hamadryas baboons and olive baboons weren’t native to Egypt. Mindy Weisberger of CNN wrote: They were imported from two regions: “the olive baboon from the south (present-day Sudan), and the hamadryas baboon from mountainous areas bordering the Red Sea, in Sudan and southwards to Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia,” said lead study author Wim Van Neer, a professor emeritus at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. “The exact provenances still need to be documented in more detail,” Van Neer told CNN. Of all the animals that the ancient Egyptians venerated, baboons were the only ones not native to Egypt, Van Neer added. [Source: Mindy Weisberger, CNN, December 8, 2023]

According to Live Science Ancient Egyptians traded with people in what is today coastal Eritrea to bring baboons to their temples, according to a new study of baboon mummy DNA. Specimen 90001206 held by the Musee des Confluences, Lyon, France. Skull and linen wrapping of a mummified baboon recovered from Gabbanat el-Qurud, Egypt and connected genetically to coastal Eritrea. [Source: Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, November 21, 2023]

Candida Moss wrote in the Daily Beast: A large comparative study of over 150 baboons from 77 locations in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula suggests that the British Museum baboon was born in a region that overlaps with modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and parts of Somalia and Yemen. Given that many archeologists believe that Punt was roughly equivalent with this region [Source: Candida Moss, Daily Beast, January 4, 2021]

Baboon Mummies of Ancient Egypt

Hamadryas baboon

Tens of millions of animal mummies have been unearthed in Egypt. Most of them are cats, dogs, ibises and birds of prey. Primate mummies such as baboons are relatively rare. Mindy Weisberger of CNN wrote: Analysis of mummified baboons is shedding light on the animals’ place in ancient Egypt, revealing that, while they were prized as sacred animals, their living conditions were less than ideal. [Source: Mindy Weisberger, CNN, December 8, 2023]

In a study published in the journal PLOS in December 2023 Researchers analyzed bones from mummified baboons found in the necropolis Gabbanat el-Qurud of of dozens of individual baboons — from infants to adults — in two species: the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) and the olive baboon (Papio anubis).

At the three main Egyptian sites where mummies of Old World monkeys were interred, 463 mummified primates have been discovered, according to the study. The baboon bones examined for the new analysis were collected in 1905 and 1906 by archaeologists from the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Lyon in France (now the Musée des Confluences).

In the tombs were pieces of dried skin with long tufts of hair still attached, suggesting that the animals had been placed there as mummies. The French archaeologists recovered 23 skulls, 24 mandibles and more than 200 isolated bones, which were assembled into complete skeletons regardless of whether all the bones belonged to the same baboon, according to the study.

Two skeletons had been cobbled together from bones belonging to two different baboons, and one skeleton represented three of the primates. Of the four skeletons that were properly put together, only one had the correct skull. After analyzing the bones one by one, the study authors identified 36 different baboons of all ages, a set with more adults than juveniles and a few more males than females.

The mummies were also centuries older than previously thought. Based on the mummies’ proximity to nearby ceramic artifacts in the tombs, earlier estimates placed them between the first and second centuries at the earliest, and possibly as recent as the seventh century.

But when the study authors examined bone collagen and fibers from a textile that had been wrapped around an intact baboon mummy, they found that the animals were likely entombed between 803 and 520 B.C.. The researchers confirmed that time frame using a technique called radiocarbon dating, which can determine the age of organic material by measuring the amount of decay in a radioactive isotope of carbon.

Baboons in Ancient Egypt Poorly Treated

baboon mummy

The scientists found that before their deaths the baboons were sunlight-deprived and developed bone ailments from poor nutrition. Mindy Weisberger of CNN wrote:Examination of the skeletal remains revealed signs of rickets; the baboons had deformed arms, legs and faces, undeveloped teeth, osteoarthritis and other pathologies due to deprivation and metabolic disease. Their deformities resembled those seen in the bones of baboons from two other ancient Egyptian sites — Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel — dating to around the same period, the authors wrote. [Source: Mindy Weisberger, CNN, December 8, 2023]

The bones also revealed signs of metabolic problems during adolescent growth, including curved shafts, misshapen shaft heads and arthritic joints. Two female baboons had suffered from tooth decay. There were lesions in some of the skulls; two of the primates had shortened snouts, and two others had snouts that bent to the left. Conditions for the captive primates may have been even worse than their remains suggested, as bones often don’t preserve records of parasites and other types of ailments, the researchers reported.

However, it’s important to note the scientists’ findings don’t suggest that the baboons were being intentionally abused. Their keepers likely did the best that they could to care for the animals, “but this must not have been easy,” Van Neer said. “Baboons are good climbers and they were therefore probably kept in buildings or enclosures with high walls to prevent them from escaping. Because of the lack of sunlight they developed the metabolic disorders that we see, mainly rickets. There are no signs of broken bones that would suggest the animals were ill-treated physically,” he said. “Unfortunately, the Egyptians did not know enough about the care and feeding of baboons,” Ikram added. “While trying to give them reverence and care they actually established conditions detrimental to the health and well-being of the animals — the way to hell is paved with good intentions!”

Baboon Mummy Teeth Helps Locate Punt

There are old stories that the ancient Egyptians obtained the baboons from the fabled, mysterious land of Punt. Though Punt is mentioned and depicted in ancient Egyptian documents and images, it was never located on a map. In 2020, Nathaniel Dominy, a primatologist at Dartmouth College used molecules from ancient baboon mummy teeth to reveal the baboons' diets in early life; he found that they came from a region encompassing modern-day Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. The baboons in that study dated back to Egypt's New Kingdom, between 1550 B.C. to 1070B.C. It was the first hard evidence for the location of Punt.[Source: Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, November 21, 2023]

Candida Moss wrote in the Daily Beast: when the ancient Egyptians thought of mysterious and wealthy kingdoms they spoke of “God’s Land” or the Land of Punt. Expeditions to this kingdom — which was rich in gold, ebony, ivory, and frankincense — were memorialized by the Egyptians on the walls of temples and alluded to in ancient folklore. But despite the fact that the Land of Punt was a real place and a major trading partner of Egypt’s, its precise location had been lost. Now new evidence, based on a mummified baboon skull, may help unlock the secrets of this lost civilization.[Source: Candida Moss, Daily Beast, January 4, 2021]

In the bowels of the British Museum, primatologist Professor Nathaniel Dominy of Dartmouth College discovered the remains of two hamadryas baboons. The baboons were mummified in the same seated pose that was so popular in ancient artwork and one has since been dismantled. The remains had been discovered at the Temple of Khons in ancient Thebes and were donated to the museum by the estate of Henry Salt, the British consul-general in Egypt between 1816 and 1827. Salt was one of a cluster of ethically questionable European diplomats-turned-amateur antiquities collectors who competed with one another to acquire as many antiquities as they could. Salt’s mummified baboons, however, are a curious discovery because baboons are not native to Egypt. There are no monkey species among the fossil records and ecological modeling suggests that baboon distribution has remained unchanged over the past 20,000 years. Where did these baboons come from? Dominy and his colleagues wanted to find out.

In an effort to identify their baboon’s birthplace, Dominy and his collaborators analyzed the chemical isotopes in the tooth enamel of one of the baboon skulls. The ratio of strontium isotopes in soil and water varies from region to region and is locked into a primate’s tooth enamel when they are young. By identifying the baboon tooth’s isotopic signature, the team hoped to pinpoint the place where the baboon had been born.

The results of the analysis confirmed what the team had suspected: the baboon had been brought to Egypt from somewhere else. Further comparative analysis of the remains of other baboons found in ancient Egyptian tombs revealed that while some were raised in captivity in Egypt, others had been born outside of the region., Dominy et al. argue that the baboon skull is the earliest known Puntite treasure. The discovery is a significant contribution that helps cement the theory that the wealthy Land of the Gods was located in the same area as Ethiopia and Eritreia.

Baboon Mummy DNA Helps Pinpoint the Location of Punt

X-ray of a baboon mummy

Gisela Kopp, the German geneticist, was the leader of a study on the baboon DNA that provided further evidence o where the ancient Egyptian baboons came from and narrowed down the location. In a study published September 28, 2023 in the journal eLife, they managed to extract DNA from a mummified baboon dating to between 800 B.C. and 540 B.C. They then compared that DNA to the genetics of 14 baboons from the 19th and 20th centuries whose origins were known. DNA can give more specific geographic locations than the previous method of discerning diet, Kopp said. Many baboons were captive-bred in Egypt, and diet can't reveal anything about their ancestry. DNA, on the other hand, can.

The researchers attempted to extract DNA from 10 baboon mummies, but ancient DNA is fragile, so only one mummy sample was usable. Still, it told an interesting tale: The baboon was most closely related to populations from what is today coastal Eritrea. "It's close to this ancient port of Adulis," Kopp said.There are historical records from around 300 B.C. and later that mention Adulis as a place where Egyptian traders traveled — and as the center of trade in wild animals. The baboon DNA pushes back the first evidence of trade with Adulis at least a couple of centuries.

It also suggests that Adulis and Punt might have been basically the same place. The isotope study from 2020 showed that ancient Egyptians were trading with Punt for baboons as early as 1550 B.C. The new study, combined with historical records, suggests that more than 1,000 years later, they were still doing the same thing. "Maybe the earlier Punt was in a similar location to where Adulis was [later] established," Kopp said.

Kopp's discovery is the first time ancient DNA from a mummified non-human primate has successfully been analyzed to this extent. But because the study is based on a single mummy, the research team would like to sample more baboons and get more information from more time periods, Kopp said. This is one of the first ancient DNA studies on a non-human primate, she added, and more work on other species could reveal more about other ancient Egyptian imports and their impact on wild populations.

Where Baboons in Ancient Egypt Drivers for the Study of Animals and Globalization?

Kopp told Business Insider the exact methods behind importing the primates to Egypt, raising them, and then eventually mummifying them remains unclear. So, too, is precisely how Egyptians came to know of baboons in the first place since they weren't native to the region. "From the way that they're presented in the artwork, they must have observed the baboons in their natural habitat," Kopp said. "It's so spot on, how they hold the postures, and the different behaviors — they must have observed them in their natural habitats, but we don't know why, or how." [Source: Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, Business Insider, November 5, 2023]

Dominy told Business Insider: "This drove maritime technology, this drove industry, this was an economic catalyst. I mean, their motives to get baboons — it changed the world" Dominy said. "And I know that's a big claim, but that link between Egypt and Adulis is the first major leg of what would become known as the maritime spice route. And that spice route, you know, I'm speaking English now because of that spice route. The geopolitical importance of the spice route would shape our world in profound ways, and the relationship between Egypt and Adulis really is the first step in what many researchers call the beginnings of economic globalization."

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated July 2024