Primates in Art - Part II
Last October, we started exploring how primates were perceived in various cultures and how they were depicted in art. If for the most part, primates had a bad reputation in the Western world as symbols of the devilish functions in humans; in other cultures they were revered as gods. The Sacred Baboons In Ancient Egypt, hymadryas baboons were associated to Thoth and the Sun God Re. Hamadryas baboons are are not native to Egypt but were imported from Somalia, Ethiopia, Erithrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen for the pleasure of the wealthy Egyptians. They were considered as vessels who could be inhabited by deities and were treated as such. Illustrations of baboons were found in tombs; baboons were mummified and many artifacts representing Thoth show a god with a baboon head. Even though baboons depicted on papyrii or in sculptures perform human tasks, there is no evidence that baboons were trained. King Sun Goku In Asia, Monkey King Sun Goku is a well known traditional chara...