CERCOPITHECID.E. 
O 
O 
Egyptians distinguished two sorts by name—the Cercopithecus, ffl 
the Baboon, ( 
AA/W\A 
(1 
Both kinds are figured with their names, male and female, at El Bersheh, in the 
tomb of Nehera, Xllth Dynasty, and they are also similarly represented in an inscrip¬ 
tion in the I'emple of Deir-el-Bahari, XVIIIth Dynasty, in which monkeys are 
enumerated among the treasures of Punt, brought to Thebes by the famous Expedition 
of Queen Hatsheput. They are also represented on the walls of the temple in a series 
of coloured bas-relief sculptures, reproduced by Diimichen in his work ‘ The Fleet of 
an Egyptian Queen,’ and in Mariette’s ‘ Deir-el-Bahari.’ The publications of the Egypt 
Exploration Fund also give a full account of this temple and its decorations. Among 
the painted scenes at Beni Hasan we likewise find very crude figures of different 
monkeys in the tomb of Baqt. 
One of the earliest representations of the monkeys and baboons together is at 
Medum IVth Dynasty, where a boy leads a yellow ape with red callosities; the way 
it carries its tail shows it to be a baboon, but as the colour from the head downwards to 
the left foot is not given it may be that the figure is imperfect. In front of the boy is 
a Cercopitheous^ also yellow. 
The appearance of baboons, both mantled and unmantled, along with other 
monkeys, is not uncommon in the delineations of tribute brought to the Pharaohs, 
and in the scene figured ^ from the tomb of Rekhmara at Thebes (XVIIIth Dynasty) 
there are several Cercopitheci, one of them clinging to the neck of a giraffe The 
negroes that lead the monkeys and other animals, as well as the offerings of ebony, 
ivory, gold, and ostrich-feathers they carry, indicate that all come from the “ South 
Country” or from Punt (Somaliland). 
Illustrations of similar scenes occur in the magnificent volumes of the ‘ Denkmaler,’ 
the work of Dr. Lepsius. 
As has been already stated, no species of Cercopithecus or Papio has inhabited the 
region to the north of the 20th parallel of N. lat. in the Nile region during the extended 
period over which the present physical conditions have lasted. Owing to this fact all 
the Cercopithecidae represented on the monuments to the north of this line were 
animals brought from regions lying further south. A recognition of this circumstance 
is of considerable importance in attempting to identify the figures, more especially 
when a genus is represented by a variety of forms. Therefore one of the first steps 
to be taken to ensure any approach to accuracy in determining what species of the 
Cercopithecidae are represented on the monuments is to ascertain what species now 
exist in the region of the Upper Nile. Owing to a variety of causes, but chiefly 
2 Wilkinson, ‘ Ancient Egyptians,’ vol. i. pis. 11 a & 11 n. 
^ Petrie, Medum, pi. xxiv. 
® Koselliui, Mon. Civ. pi. xxii. 
