Moonlight and the apotheosis of sacred baboons
- ABSTRACT
- Introduction
- Results and discussion
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- Additional information
- Footnotes
- References
- Appendixes
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ABSTRACT
Thoth was an ancient Egyptian deity of wisdom, writing, magic, and the moon. Manifestations of Thoth took the form of two animal species, the sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) and sacred baboon (Papio hamadryas), but the reasons for this zoomorphism are uncertain. Speculation has focused on physical traits of the sacred ibis, especially its curved, crescent-moon shaped beak and its black-and-white pied coloration. The baboonification of Thoth is far more puzzling. Recent scholarship has drawn attention to Proto-Afroasiatic adjectives for lunar luminosity and the origin of Thoth’s Egyptian theonym, meaning ‘white/bright-thing’. This new insight motivates a question: was P. hamadryas used to embody Thoth because its pelage – like the plumage of its ibis counterpart – resembles the color of moonlight? To address this question, we used spectroscopy to compare the color (irradiance spectrum) of moonlight and the colors (reflectance spectra) of baboons. We examined the two species of baboon accessible to ancient Egyptians, P. anubis and P. hamadryas, along with T. aethiopicus, and found that the grizzled hair of P. hamadryas and plumage of T. aethiopicus have spectral profiles indistinguishable from moonlight. This finding bolsters the idea that divinity was conferred on T. aethiopicus and P. hamadryas because their coloration resembles moonlight.Footnote1
Introduction
Thoth was an ancient Egyptian deity identified with the moon and cosmic order, as well as many realms of knowledge, including wisdom, writing, and magic (Larcher Citation2016; Stadler Citation2012). The embodiments of Thoth took two forms: a sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) and a baboon (Papio hamadryas). The ibis is extinct in Egypt today, but natural populations were readily encountered during antiquity (Linglin et al. Citation2020) and into the 1700s (Houlihan Citation1988). The reasons for Thoth’s manifestation as an ibis are uncertain, but Boylan (Citation1922) noted the bird’s curved beak and its resemblance to a crescent-shaped moon. Meeks (Citation1990) focused on the bird’s pied coloration when it stands with a tucked-wing posture, and suggested a resemblance between its black-white banding and quarter lunar phases. Cooper (Citation2024), however, called attention to the birds’ brilliant white plumage, linking it to the origin of Thoth’s Egyptian theonym, Ḏḥw.ty, meaning ‘white/bright-thing’. His argument is particularly persuasive when sacred ibises adopt a landing posture (). It is tempting, then, to link some of the bird’s physical traits to salient features of the moon, and to argue that sacred ibises are a fitting symbol for any moon-representing deity. But what to make of Thoth’s other zoomorphic manifestation, the baboon?
Figure 1. A sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) during the high-alpha phase of landing (photograph by Stefano Gozzoli, reproduced with permission). It is a fleeting maneuver to increase body angle relative to airflow. Here, the bird is using its full wingspan and spread feathers to act as air brakes to maximize drag, reduce speed, and control descent. The bright white plumage (see Appendix ) and circular profile of landing sacred ibises may have contributed to its lunar association in ancient Egypt.
The baboonification of Thoth is puzzling for several reasons. First, there is no evidence for wild baboons in Holocene Egypt (Blinkhorn et al. Citation2025; Geraads Citation1987), an absence that stands alone and in stark contrast to the many native species folded into the Egyptian pantheon. Yet, the skeletal and mummified remains of two species – olive baboons (Papio anubis) and sacred baboons (P. hamadryas) – have been recovered in their hundreds from temples, tombs, and other archaeological settings (Goudsmit and Brandon-Jones Citation1999; Ikram and Iskander Citation2002; Peters Citation2020; Van Neer et al. Citation2023; Van Neer, De Cupere, and Friedman Citation2026; von den Driesch Citation2006).Footnote2 These findings are a testament to the extended trade networks of ancient Egyptians (Dominy Citation2021; Dominy et al. Citation2020; Grathwol et al. Citation2023), but they also compel a question: if both species of baboon were accessible and suitable for mummification and other religious rites, then why was only one species – P. hamadryas – privileged as the manifestation of Thoth?
The answer to this enigma may lie in Cooper’s (Citation2024) work linking the Egyptian theonym for Thoth, Ḏḥw.ty, with Proto-Afroasiatic adjectives for lunar luminosity, and Thoth’s lunar epithets, such as ‘the beautiful one of the night,’ ‘the brightly shining,’ and ‘silver sun’ (Boylan Citation1922). Was P. hamadryas the favored embodiment of Thoth because its pelage – like the plumage of its ibis counterpart – resembles the color of the moon? The dark basaltic plains (maria) and gray regolith of the lunar surface () are certainly similar to the grizzled shades of gray of P. hamadryas (), but this question can be addressed empirically and objectively, and it motivates the present analysis of moonlight and the spectral properties of primate hair.
Figure 2. Photographs of (a) the lunar nearside and (b) an adult male sacred baboon, Papio hamadryas (photograph by André Karwath, and reproduced under a CC BY-SA 2.5 license). (c) Irradiance spectrum of moonlight at 57° elevation and 91% full (data source: Melin et al. Citation2012). (d) Median reflectance spectra of forehead hair (n = 6 individuals of each baboon species; data source: this study, with all data available at https://github.com/wild-Minds/SacredBaboons/). The illustrations of baboons are reproduced with permission from Stephen D. Nash / IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, 2013.
Results and discussion
The moon is a radiating body with a temperature of about 400K (Johnsen Citation2012), but the majority of its radiation at visible wavelengths is reflected sunlight. In fact, the color of moonlight and sunlight are quite similar, although moonlight is ≈500,000 times dimmer. The irradiance spectrum of moonlight is relatively smooth and flat, peaking in the visible range between 600 and 700 nm (). To compare this spectrum with the colors of baboons, we recorded the reflectance spectra of hair from 12 specimens accessioned in the American Museum of Natural History, New York (see Appendix Table A1). The reflectance spectrum of P. anubis features a broad peak between 525 and 650 nm, and a downward deflection at longer wavelengths (). To human visual systems, this spectral shape corresponds to hues of green, underscoring the species’ color-adjective common name: olive baboon. The spectrum of P. hamadryas is ≈65% more reflective, or brighter, than that of P. anubis, and it has a strikingly similar profile to moonlight, peaking between 600 and 700 nm (). To humans, this shape corresponds to hues of gray or silver, underscoring the species’ color-adjective common names in German – Graupavian and Silberpavian (Brehm Citation1863; Osman Hill Citation1970; lit. grey (grau) and silver (silber) baboon (pavian)) – although the name Mantelpavian is more common for reasons described next.
The extreme sexual dimorphism/dichromatism of P. hamadryas is one of its most outstanding traits. Females and immature individuals are covered in short hair of uniform length over the whole body; their dorsal surfaces are colored a deep olive-brown tinge, mixed slightly with green (Osman Hill Citation1970). Mature males develop heavy whiskers and a profuse shoulder mantle of gray hairs up to 245 mm long (Osman Hill Citation1970), with each strand featuring alternating bands of cinereous, gray shading (). The forehead and vertex are covered with short, adpressed gray hairs, whereas the face features prominent white cheek ruffs that stand out above and to the sides of the head ().
Figure 3. Color of secondary sexual characteristics. (a) Mature male Papio hamadryas with exemplary cheek ruffs and shoulder mantle (photo by Hrvoje Šašek, reproduced with permission). (b) Median reflectance spectrum of male cheek ruffs and shoulder mantle (n = 6 individuals). The shaded region represents the range of 24 measurements (data source: this study). For comparison, the plot includes the median reflectance spectrum of two golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia), a small monkey known for its exceptional luminance. The illustration of L. rosalia is reproduced with permission from Stephen D. Nash / IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, 2013.
The shoulder mantle and cheek ruffs of males have similar-shaped spectra, and highly variable levels of reflectivity (). Most of this variation stems from the heterogeneity (striations; ) of each hair and the relatively small integration area (≈0.74 mm2) of the backscattering probe. Additional sources of variation could include different stages of male development, population-level adaptations to habitat conditions, and differences in preservation and storage. But overall, mature males have exceedingly bright, silver-white hair on their cheeks and chests. The average reflectivity of these areas exceeds those of other monkeys familiar to Egyptians by a factor of two (e.g. grivet monkeys, Chlorocebus aethiops; and patas monkeys, Erythrocebus patas; Sumner and Mollon Citation2003), with a maximum reflectivity ≈50% brighter than the maxima of either species. The reflectivity of P. hamadryas males even surpasses that of golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia), a small monkey endemic to Brazil that is known for its exceptional level of luminance (Sumner and Mollon Citation2003; ). The silver-white color of P. hamadryas and the extreme brightness of mature males could explain why this species-sex tandem was used as the manifestation of Thoth.
Ancient Egyptian artists were attentive to the distinguishing traits of many birds and mammals (Houlihan Citation1988; Osborn and Osbornová Citation1998; Yeakel et al. Citation2014), differentiating between two species of baboon (Papio anubis and P. hamadryas) and three species of ibis, the hermit ibis (Geronticus eremita), glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). But of all these animals, Egyptians chose the species (and sex) with a moon-like hue and brightness as the embodiment of Thoth. It is an observation that bolsters Cooper’s (Citation2024) thesis of Thoth’s lunar lexical root; and establishes visual mirroring of the moon that extends to both zoomorphic manifestations.
Against this backdrop focused on the color of moonlight, we have classical texts that describe the behavioral responses of baboons toward lunar conjunctions. The most elaborate account exists in Hieroglyphica, a 5th century anthology attributed to the Egyptian magus Horapollo Niliacus:
When [Egyptians] portray the moon … they paint [Papio hamadryas] because this animal has a certain sympathy at its conjunction with the god. At that time of the hour when the moon moves into conjunction with the sun and becomes dark, the male [P. hamadryas] neither looks up nor eats; but is bowed down to the ground in grief, just as though sorrowing at the seizure of the moon … For this reason even now [P. hamadryas] are fed in the temples so that from them the time of the conjunction of the sun and moon may be ascertained.
(Greek-English translations by MacKinney Citation1963; McDermott Citation1938)It is a curious passage that describes human interactions with baboons at close quarters and a familiarity with behavioral anomalies, which is perhaps unsurprising given the evidence for captive husbandry during the Ptolemaic period (Dominy et al. Citation2020; Goudsmit and Brandon-Jones Citation1999; von den Driesch, Kessler, and Peters Citation2004). For example, in the Baboon Catacomb of North Saqqara there is an obituary for an animal named Harnufi; and later, Djeho-the-baboon, a sacred byname. Harnufi was brought to Egypt in year 6 of Ptolemy V and entombed 31 years later on September 6, 168 BC (Ray Citation2011). Other obituaries describe baboons kept in Alexandria or the temple estate of Ptah-under-his-moringa-tree in Memphis, where they were born, raised, and mummified for entombment (Ray Citation2011).
It stands to reason that Egyptian keepers were closely attuned to the behaviors of their sacred charges, and that they witnessed the responses of baboons to lunar conjunctions and other significant celestial events. Systematic observations of captive P. hamadryas speak to behavioral shifts during solar eclipses, such as abrupt reductions in typical baseline activities and increased vigilance and huddling (Gil-Burmann and Beltrami Citation2003; Hartstone-Rose et al. Citation2020). Observers interpreted these atypical behaviors as expressions of anxiety (Hartstone-Rose et al. Citation2020), echoing the account of Horapollo Niliacus.
It is notable that Hartstone-Rose et al. (Citation2020) observed sporadic vocalizations during the waning phases of their eclipse, another behavior that may have resonated with the religious views of ancient Egyptians. Many texts describe the ‘jubilating language’ of baboons toward the sun (te Velde Citation1988). This secret-sacred language was not simply spoken, but shouted along with ‘singing’ and ‘dancing’; and it is argued that Egyptians longed to understand the ecstatic, incomprehensible speech of baboons because it would unlock the knowledge of the gods (te Velde Citation1988). Indeed, a baboon in the Baboon Catacomb of Saqqara bears the inscription Mestatatoumis, ‘The Hearing Ear’ (Smith Citation1974; 42), suggesting an attentive intercessor for channeling requests to or from Thoth, the god that gifted language and writing to the Egyptians.
This digression on the ‘language’ of baboons could explain another puzzling zoomorphism the use of baboon-headed stoppers on canopic jars representing Hapi, divine guardian of the lungs. Egyptians were well versed in pulmonary anatomy, understanding the functional role of the lungs and trachea during speech production. Given that lungs were essential to sacred speech in the afterlife, it follows that baboons were a fitting symbol of protection.
Conclusions
Ancient Egyptians were diligent observers of their natural world, and the sacred animals of Egypt are a topic of enduring interest. Some zoomorphic forms of the gods can be associated with evident attributes of the species that embody them. For example, Anubis, god of the necropolis, is manifested as a jackal (although the species is technically a wolf, Canis lupaster), an animal that commonly roams cemeteries at night, and Hathor, a mother-fertility deity was embodied as a cow. But most zoomorphic associations are inscrutable. In the case of Thoth, the dual use of T. aethiopicus and P. hamadryas ‘defies explanation’ (Teeter Citation2001; 341). Indeed, the baboon is an enigma as the only non-native zoomorphism. Our findings support Cooper’s (Citation2024) argument that divinity was conferred on both animal species for reasons of color; because their bodies resemble the color and luminance of moonlight.
Acknowledgments
We thank Peter Capainolo, Lauren Caspers, Eleanor Hoeger, Marisa Surovy, Paul Sweet, and Ian Tattersall for facilitating access to collections in the American Museum of Natural History, and Stephen Nash for permission to use his illustrations. Susan Ackerman provided thoughtful feedback on an early draft of this manuscript. We thank Dr Zainab Hashesh for help in providing an Arabic translation of our Abstract.
Additional information
Funding
This work stems from research supported by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers [Multi-Country Research Fellowship], Dartmouth College [Wilson Faculty Research Fellowship], David and Lucile Packard Foundation [Fellowship in Science and Engineering 2007-31754], Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation [Fellowship for Higher Education], National Science Foundation [OISE-0923655], and Rust Family Foundation.Notes
1. We provide an Arabic translation of our Abstract in Appendix 1. 1 نقدم ترجمة باللغة العربية لملخصنا في الملحق
2. Most scholars today refer to P. hamadryas as the ‘hamadryas baboon.’ The name ‘sacred baboon’ was popularized by Kummer (Citation1995), but its use extends to the 1970s. The name is based on sacred representations of P. hamadryas in antiquity, beginning ca. 3100 BC (Dominy et al. Citation2020; Osman Hill Citation1970; McDermott Citation1938; Osborn and Osbornová Citation1998; Vandier d’Abbadie Citation1964; Citation1965; Citation1966).
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Appendix A
Arabic Abstract
كان تحوت معبوداً مصرياً قديماً للحكمة، والكتابة، والسحر، والقمر. وقد اتخذت تجلياته المورفولوجية هيئة نوعين من الحيوانات: طائر أبو منجل المقدس (Threskiornis aethiopicus) والبابون المقدس (Papio hamadryas)، غير أن الأسباب الكامنة وراء هذا التجسيد الحيواني لا تزال تكتنفها عدم الوضوح. ولقد ركزت الأطروحات النظرية على السمات الجسدية لطائر أبو منجل المقدس، ولا سيما منقاره المقوس الذي يحاكي شكل الهلال، ونمط تلوينه الأبرش المزيج بين الأبيض والأسود.
بيد أن تجسيد “تحوت” في هيئة بابون (Baboonification) يعد أمراً أكثر إثارة للحيرة. وقد وجهت الدراسات الحديثة الانتباه نحو الصفات اللغوية في اللغة الأفروآسيوية الام الدالة على اللمعان القمري، فضلاً عن أصل التسمية الإلهية لـ |”تحوت” ‘ في المصرية القديمة، والتي تفيد معنى “ الشيء الأبيض/المضيء”. ويسوق هذا المنظور المعرفي الجديد تساؤلاً جوهرياً: هل استُخدم بابون الـ P. hamadryas لتجسيد “تحوت” لأن فرائه على غرار ريش نظيره من طيور أبو منجل، يماثل لون ضوء القمر؟
ولمعالجة هذه الفرضية، استخدمنا تقنية التحليل الطيفي للمقارنة بين لون ضوء القمر (طيف الإشعاعية) وألوان البابون(أطياف الانعكاسية). وقد قمنا بفحص نوعي البابون اللذين كانا متاحين للمصريين القدماء، وهما: P. anubis وP. hamadryas، إلى جانب طائر T. aethiopicus؛ وأظهرت النتائج أن الشعر الرمادي المرقط لبابون والريش الأبيض لطائر T. aethiopicus يمتلكان ملامح طيفي لا يمكن تمييزها عن ضوء القمر. وتعزز هذه المعطيات الأثرية والعلمية الأطروحة القائلة بأن إضفاء صفة الألوهية على طائر T. aethiopicus وبابون P. hamadryas قد جاء نظراً للمحاكاة اللونية بينهما وبين جرم القمر.”
Methods
Moonlight irradiance
The irradiance spectrum was sourced from Melin et al. (Citation2012). The authors used a multichannel spectrometer with a highly sensitive photomultiplier detector and an integrating sphere to ensure a cosine angular response (OL-770VIS, Gooch & Housego, Orlando, FL). The data were recorded on July 12, 2011 in Sabah, Malaysia (4.967, 117.800) when the moon was at 57° elevation and 91% full. The spectrum at visible wavelengths is essentially identical to other measurements of moonlight irradiance (Kieffer and Stone Citation2005; Cramer et al. Citation2013).
Figure A1. Reflectance spectra were recorded at eight sampling locations per baboon and one location per ibis (all data are available at https://github.com/Wild-Minds/SacredBaboons/). Primate schematic modified from Bell, Bradley, and Kamilar (Citation2021).
Moonlight irradiance
Hair and plumage color. We accessed specimens of Papio anubis, P. hamadryas, and Threskiornis aethiopicus accessioned in the American Museum of Natural History () and used spectroscopy to quantify hair and plumage color (cf. Sumner and Mollon Citation2003; Andersson and Prager Citation2006). Reflectance spectra at human-visible wavelengths were collected at standardized locations () with a Jaz spectrometer system outfitted with a 1-mm diameter fiber optic cable positioned at a 45° angle, and expressed relative to a WS-1 reflectance standard (Ocean Optics, Dunedin, FL).
Results
Figure A2. Specimen 196437 and the median reflectance spectrum of chest plumage (n = 5 individuals; see ). The shaded region represents the range of 15 measurements (3 replicates per individual; data source: this study; all data available at https://github.com/Wild-Minds/SacredBaboons/).
Table A1. Specimens examined for the present study.
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