obelisk with baboons, Nubian Museum

Obelisk With Baboons

Nubian Museum
Aswan, Egypt

The arrangement of sacred baboons around a central obelisk symbolizes their role as devotees of Re, the Sun (in nature, the Egyptians observed baboons "adoring" the sun at dawn.) Because of this symbolism, the baboon was also identified with Thoth, the vizir of Re.