Magical(?) gem: Sitting baboon with animals
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CBd-Number:
CBd-92
ID-Number:
GB-BM-MMEu_G 175, EA 56175
Collection:
GB_London, The British Museum
Inventory:
G 175 (EA 56175)
References:
Michel, BM, no. 143; Michel, DMG, no. 42.2.a_1
Former Collections:
Eastwood, George; Mertens-Schaaffhausen, Sibylle (Köln, 1797 – Rome, 1857)
Material:
jasper, green and red
Dimensions:
18 x 14 x 2 mm
Dating:
3rd c. AD (Michel)
Iconography:
bird: falcon; bird: ibis; scarab; animal: cynocephalus; pedestal; crown, lotus?; animal: jackal; Thoth
A: Baboon in profile, sitting on a base, to left, a snake's head placed at the end of the tail, on the snake-head: a crown (lotus?). Facing him: an ibis, with an unidentified sign (crown, star misunderstood or hieroglyph?) above the bill. Below the ibis: a dog or jackal. At the top, above the baboon: a scarab. On the right, behind the baboon: a falcon.
B: Plain.
Michel refers to parallel sources in the Greek Magical Papyri, based on which the baboon can be identified both as Thoth, the moon-god and Horus, the sun-god.
Bibliography
Michel, BM on CBd-92
Michel, DMG, 42.2.a_1
The British Museum Collection database on CBd-92
Last modified: 2020-12-27 17:35:52
Link:cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/92
CITE THIS PAGE
CBd-92. The Campbell Bonner Magical Gems Database (2010-), developed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, editor-in-chief: Á. M. Nagy.
Retrieved from: cbd.mfab.hu/cbd/92 on 09-03-2025.
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