Monkey or meerkat
Depictions of monkeys are popular throughout Egyptian history. Standing monkeys balancing on their tails seem to date to the Late Period and later. A faience example was excavated at Naurkatis in a cache dating to the late 5th-4th centuries BC. The Metropolitan Museum Egyptian Expedition excavated in a Ptolemaic tomb at Thebes a wooden example posed like this one, but carrying a bow and arrow and housed in a small sort of shrine/box.
Eroded as this statuette is, it is clear that the penis was prominently depicted. A loop through the back is partly broken.
Eroded as this statuette is, it is clear that the penis was prominently depicted. A loop through the back is partly broken.
Artwork Details
- Title: Monkey or meerkat
- Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
- Date: 500–200 BC
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Faience
- Dimensions: H. 5 × W. 1.1 × D. 1.9 cm (1 15/16 × 7/16 × 3/4 in.)
- Credit Line: Gift of James Douglas, 1890
- Object Number: 90.6.204
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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ca. 872–664 BCE
664–525 BCE
4th century B.C.
360–343 BCE
200–30 B.C.
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