Scarab with Baboons of Thoth Adoring Amun

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The scarab is carved with a scene invoking solar symbolism, showing a pair of baboons on either side of an obelisk. The obelisk stands for the sun god, who is present also in the form of a solar barque at the top of the design. Additional sun disks are placed on either side of the obelisk. The baboons represent the god Thoth, as indicated by the lunar disks resting in crescents –symbolizing the moon’s phases– above their heads.

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