Cynocephalus Amulet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The god Thoth was associated with two animals: the ibis and the baboon. Here, he is shown as a baboon squatting with its hands on its knees and wearing a crescent and a full moon on its head. As an amulet, it could have been worn, carried, or offered to a deity with the belief that it will magically bestow a particular power or form of protection during life or in the afterlife.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art