664–30 BCE · SILICE EARTHENANCE AND METALS

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Blue, silver and gold for a god of calculation and writing

The figure represents Thoth as a baboon, with silver and gold details related to the Moon.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Ancient Egypt Gallery, Louvre Museum, Paris, France. Complete indexed photo collection at WorldHistoryPics.com. — **PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL · Musée du Louvre · CC0**
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Documentary photograph of the original or the exact site.
Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · Musee du Louvre · Inventory: E 17496 · CC0
Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

History and context

A figure of blue siliceous earthenware represents Thoth as a baboon, with a face and crescent of silver and a golden lunar disk. Materials and posture condense moon, measurement, writing and knowledge in a votive image.

Tuna el-Gebel is listed as a provenance reported by a seller, not as a certain excavated context. The long dating of the Louvre prevents it from being pinned down to a single reign.

Evidence and interpretation

Materials, iconography, inventory and institutional dating are secure. Archaeological provenance and specific votive occasion are not.

Catalogue facts

Date: 664–30 BCE
Provenance: Tuna el-Gebel according to seller · not safe excavation
Inventory: Louvre E 17496
Materials: Blue siliceous earthenware silver gold

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

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664–30 BCE

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Ancient Egypt

Approximate dating according to the record.

Current record

Ceramics39 dated objects

26 / 39In the centre: Thoth in the form of a baboon

Also connected, without a comparable date (17)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A Kerma vessel deposited at AbydosAncient Egypt · Second Intermediate Period
A tradition that inventsBatwa / Twa histories · collected in 1993 or 1995
A vase travels; the rite changesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
AkrotiriGreek worlds · c. 1700–1500 BCE
Dia’s strataMande Worlds · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE
Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
Jenne-jeno contextsMande Worlds · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE
Liédena FlaskEtruscans and Rome · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry
LothalIndus civilisation · ca. 2400–1600 BCE
Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
Nile towards NubiaAncient Egypt · ca. 3300–2800 BCE
The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
Three hundred lives in the sandYayoi Japan · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE
Travelling objectsGaramantes · Mainly Roman period
Trumpet from NumantiaIberians · No individual dating published on this record
Urns from AdichanallurVedic and later Indian worlds · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE
Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Silver

The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt — You are viewing
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Falcata from Almedinilla · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians

Gold

Animal imagery

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt — You are viewing
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Worship and offerings

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
Livestock and mounds · c. 2050–1500 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Soma stones · Rigvedic strata; later ritual tradition · Vedic and later Indian worlds
The altar cord · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions · Vedic and later Indian worlds
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

An offering with its own name

The Louvre figurine E 17496 preserves a dedication that names Horhetep and Padibastet, identified in the record as his father. This inscription transforms a generic image of Thoth into an offering linked to specific people. The baboon keeps his hands on his thighs and rests on a base with a ledge and steps; The catalog identifies its disk as lunar, associated with the crescent. These features allow us to relate posture, support and writing in a piece of just fifteen centimeters. The place of provenance reported by a seller is not equivalent to a documented excavation context.

Museum · Musée du Louvre · Figurine of Thot, E 17496Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

DEBATED LOCATION

Tuna el-Gebel · EgyptOrigin reported by seller, not certain archaeological excavation.

Where it is held

Musee du Louvre

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

Inventory E 17496.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Musée du Louvre · Figurine of Thot, E 17496

Open the Official Record of This Piece

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Dolní Věstonice I

Before Sumer

Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or

Before Egypt

Before Nubia

Before Gojoseon

Bevel-rimmed bowl

Before Yayoi

Vasiliki

Before the Greeks

Cemetery R-37

Before Ancient China

Longshan

Kerma vessel

Burial at K IV

Before Vedic India

Osmankayası and Ilıca

Grey bowl from Hastinapura

Before Etruscans and Rome

The urn under the helmet

Ceramic stand 1010

Ishtar Gate

Glazed brick guards

Orpheus among the Thracians

The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Leipzig Fish Plate

Dove of the Amarejo

Vas dels Guerrers

Warriors' Vase

Northern mound

Kalathos of Alcorisa

Urewe vessel

Two rows of coffins

Ceramics that continued

Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon

Laon lamp with fish

Kabusanza, ca. 400

Missing grave goods

A closer look

An offering with its own name

Location and territory

Where it is held

Musee du Louvre

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?