Science explains why ancient Egyptians worshipped the baboon

In the vast pantheon of ancient Egypt, deities were frequently portrayed as living creatures. Anubis assumed the form of a sleek jackal, Hathor appeared as a majestic cow, and Horus was depicted as a fierce falcon. In almost every instance, a single animal species was tied to a single divine figure.

However, the deity Thoth who’s the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, writing, magic, and the moon stood out. Ancient artists and priests portrayed Thoth in two completely different animal forms. First, the slender, wading sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). Second, the stocky, silver-furred sacred baboon (Papio hamadryas).

For centuries, Egyptologists and anthropologists struggled to explain why two such different animals were chosen to represent the exact same lunar god.  The sacred ibis seemed to make intuitive sense. Its curved, arching beak resembles a delicate crescent moon. Its black-and-white plumage aligns with classical lunar motifs. The sacred baboon remained an enigma. Baboons were not even native to the Nile Valley. Egyptians had to import them from regions thousands of miles to the south at immense expense and difficulty. Furthermore, across most neighboring African cultures, baboons were viewed with hostility as agricultural pests that destroyed crops. A groundbreaking study published in the journal Time and Mind by a team of researchers from the University of St Andrews and Dartmouth College has finally understood the case. The researchers caught a glimpse into the psychological and spiritual world of ancient Egypt.

Professor Catherine Hobaiter at the University of St Andrews led the research team sought to move past human visual perception. Human color judgment is naturally subjective and heavily influenced by cultural assumptions. To eliminate this bias, the scientists utilized spectroscopy. It’s a technique that measures the precise light wave frequencies reflected off physical surfaces. Using spectroscopic measurements, the researchers analyzed the physical light signatures emitted by the plumage of the sacred ibis and the thick coat of the sacred hamadryas baboon. Then, compared those measurements to the light wave frequencies given off by actual moonlight. The findings were astonishingly clear. Both the silver-white fur of the hamadryas baboon and the bright feathers of the sacred ibis possess spectral profiles that are practically identical to the reflected light of the moon.

This discovery reveals that the ancient Egyptians were intentional in their religious symbolism. Ancient Egyptians had access to multiple bird and primate species. They were well-acquainted with at least three distinct types of ibises and several other monkey species, including green vervet monkeys and patas monkeys. Yet, out of all available animals, they specifically selected the single white ibis species and the single silver-furred baboon species. The new research demonstrates that the ancient Egyptians recognized an inherent physical connection between these animals and the night sky. To the Egyptian mind, divinity was not an abstract concept restricted to invisible realms. In fact, it was tangibly embodied in the natural environment. When an ancient observer looked upon a hamadryas baboon sitting under the night sky, its coat reflected the exact spectral radiance of the full moon shining overhead. Physical artifacts, temple walls, and mummified remains have revealed much about what ancient Egyptians built and worshipped. However, opportunities to understand how they perceived the world around them are exceptionally rare. Scientists have provided a rare window into ancient human consciousness. Science proved that to the people of the Nile, a baboon’s silver coat was quite literally the embodiment of heavenly light on Earth.