Gateway to a shrine, preceded by two baboons
This delicate faience model depicts the essential elements of a shrine or entryway to a sacred space. Two baboons are placed at either side of a formal gateway, and, passing through the doorway, the inner room of a shrine is represented by two slender columns on a platform.
The placement of the baboons at either side of the gateway strikingly recalls the possible original locations for the excavated baboon statue 1971.51 at the entry to the Baboon Catacombs at the Sacred Animal Necropolis in North Saqqara.
The placement of the baboons at either side of the gateway strikingly recalls the possible original locations for the excavated baboon statue 1971.51 at the entry to the Baboon Catacombs at the Sacred Animal Necropolis in North Saqqara.
Artwork Details
- Title: Gateway to a shrine, preceded by two baboons
- Period: Ptolemaic Period
- Date: 332–30 B.C.
- Geography: Probably from Egypt
- Medium: Faience
- Dimensions: H. 9 × W. 6 × D. 7 cm (3 9/16 × 2 3/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
- Object Number: 30.8.151
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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4th century B.C.
360–343 BCE
5th–4th century B.C.
664–525 BCE
ca. 872–664 BCE
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