The first object to grab my eye, when looking through the Egyptian artifacts at Cleveland Museum of Art, was a small turquoise figure of a baboon-like creature. The label read Thoth, God of Writing, as baboon and it indicated that it was from the late period, Dynasty 30 or later. After closer investigation of the object, I could see a great amount of detail in the figure. The texture of the fur of the creature was captured in great detail. In the area of the ears a stippling effect was used. The object looked very symmetrical and balanced; displaying Apollonian application of precision and attention to detail, yet it still held the naturalistic effects of the animal. The creature was a combination of human and animal qualities, which is a very Cthonian idea; that humans and animals be put on the same level. .
The creature is in the natural squatting position, rather than a more upright sitting position seen in representations of pharaohs and humans. .
After researching the object, I found that the limestone base, which the figure sits on, was not originally attached to it. Research shows that the statuette had been glued to the base in more resent times. This is evident because the inscription on the base does not match the figure. The inscription reads, "Words spoken by Harpocrates, given life and health, lord and heaven, (on behalf of) Dajuser the son of Usernakht and [the mothers name unknown]" (4).
In Ancient Egypt, Thoth was the scribal god of wisdom and writing. This characteristic is very Apollonian because it shows the value of knowledge. He also acted as God of the moon and guided the deceased through the underworld. While he was represented in the figure as a baboon, Thoth was most commonly represented as an Ibus-headed deity. He has also been called Asten and Astes (1). He goes by many titles which include Governor of the Years, Computer of the time of life, Deputy of Ra, Governor of living star gods, Bull of Heaven, Prince of Books, Warden of Scales, Scribe of Truth, and Great, Great, Great (3).
