A bit of monkey business

One of the most beloved pets in ancient Egypt was a monkey, a jovial companion in the daily life of ancient Egyptians. These highly intelligent animals seem to had been viewed with considerable affection, to the extent that the tomb-owners wished to continue to enjoy their presence throughout eternity. By portraying them close to their sides, ancient Egyptians believed to had insured their companionship and warmth in the beyond. Their fondness of monkeys was also reflected in one of the names they gave them – Mer-redit – the love she gives. Whether or not the monkeys’ role in ancient Egypt was purely for amusement or it also involved them assisting with various laborious tasks is an unresolved question. Yet, the numerous charming representations of monkeys clearly convey the joy and amusement they were seen with in antiquity.

Based on artistic representations and monkey remains five monkey species have been identified in ancient Egypt: sacred baboon (Papio hamadryas), olive baboon (Papio anubis), green or vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), red monkey (Cercopithecus patas), and barbary ape (Macaca sylvanus). Vervet monkey, and the much larger hamadryas baboon, are most commonly found in artistic compositions.

Ever since the Predynastic times monkeys were part of everyday life in Egypt. Although it is not known how long they remained indigenous, they were extinct by the New Kingdom and were imported as valued exotics from Nubia and Punt. Monkeys were imported before that as well. Frequent scenes of ships traveling north with monkeys climbing all over the mast and rigging show that importing had already started in the Old Kingdom.

The silvery-coated hamadryas baboon was seen as a sacred animal and a manifestation of Thoth – the god of knowledge and wisdom, inventor of writing and patron of the scribal profession. Ancient Egyptians also perceived it as a sun-greeting animal, a herald of dawn, and announcer of sun’s rebirth. 

Baboons leave their lairs at dawn and congregate to chatter and howl, while jumping in the warmth of the early morning sun, as if singing and dancing. The belief that they greet the rising sun gave rise to a favorite theme in art – baboon in attitude of adoration, facing the sun with raised arms as if ‘offering prayers and salutation to the first rays of dawn’. In either guise, a baboon can appear with the lunar crescent on his head, indicating the aspect of the moon god. Baboons were also called the oldest or beloved son of Re in Pyramid texts (Pyr. 608; 1347), while the deceased and resurrected king may sit among them and give praises ( Pyr. 505).
Although the focus of this text are not baboons specifically, it is worth noting that ancient Egyptians thought that whoever understood the language of baboons had access to religious knowledge hidden from ordinary beings. Being the manifestation of Thoth, who taught the ancient Egyptians how to write, as te Velde notes, Egyptians believed that the special capacity and hidden knowledge of the baboons could be evoked.
Horapollo wrote: “In Egypt a race of baboons exists who know their (i.e. of the Egyptians) letters in accordance with which, when a baboon was first cared for in a temple, the priest handed him a table and pen and ink. This was done in an attempt to find out whether he was of the race which knew its letters and whether he could write. Moreover, the animal is sacred to Hermes, the god of letters” (Horapollo I,14).

Monkey representations

Ancient Egyptians certainly wished that their pets stayed by their side in the afterlife. As early as the beginning of IV Dynasty, monkeys and baboons appear on the walls of their tombs, depicted in various settings and situations. Their comic appeal and entertaining nature are reflected in the delight ancient Egyptians took in portraying them.

Monkeys are often shown collared and leashed, followed by a guardian – usually a dwarf during the Old Kingdom, and most often young Nubian during the New Kingdom.  Sometimes they are pictured wearing decorative jewelry, such as bracelets, anklets, and earrings.

On Old Kingdom tomb walls, they are shown engaging in a range of activities: from carrying a heavy load using a shoulder yoke, imitating a woman dancing, picking fruit, maneuvering a Nile vessel, catching a ride on the back of a dog, to ‘singing’ in sync with a musician. Sometimes they also ride perched on top of their guardians’ heads nibbling on a piece of fruit.

In other tomb scenes, they can be seen policing the marketplace, grasping crane’s tail feathers, launching of the boat wielding a baton of authority, and even helping with the pressing of the must-sack during wine making. Scenes of monkeys imitating human behavior continue into the Middle and New Kingdoms, though during the Middle Kingdom such representations are rare.

On the wall of the tomb of Sebekhnakht, a monkey, acting as a maidservant, is shown assisting its mistress’s hairdresser. In a similar scene from the tomb of Bebi, a monkey is shown holding a perfume vessel. Although these scenes might have had humorous intent, according to d’Abbadie, the serious and focused expression of the monkey in the tomb of Bebi might indicate that it was unwillingly performing that task. Such representations also appear on statues and stelae, with monkeys holding toilet objects as if handing them to their masters.

In addition, many cosmetic and perfume vessels were decorated with monkey figures. As Arnold points out, monkeys were imported from the same countries to the south that produced many cosmetic ingredients, so their exotic origin and entertaining nature made them suitable adornments of these luxury containers.

Monkeys and baboons are frequently depicted in New Kingdom tribute representations. They are commonly shown among other riches and exotic animals brought to the Pharaoh. In a tribute procession from the tomb of the vizier Rekhmire at Thebes, a green monkey is shown climbing the neck of a giraffe.

 

In a similar scene from the tomb of Amunedjeh, a monkey is depicted climbing over the giraffe’s back, with its long tail stretching behind it. Egyptians were clearly amused by the spectacle as the artist represented it with so much spirit. However, although these scenes appear humorous, the artist gave a very accurate portrayal of the animal and its habits. As Wilkinson notes, “Nina Davies learned from a gamekeeper in Africa that monkeys actually do steal rides in this manner to get from one group of trees to another.”

Ancient Egyptian artists certainly enjoyed illustrating the lively nature of these animals, as well as their ability to imitate human gestures and behavior, making for very amusing and comical scenes. A number of scenes with monkeys behaving like humans is also found on figured ostraca. While some Egyptologists believe these intelligent simians were actually trained to perform all kinds of hard work, others believe they were just used for amusement.

In Old Kingdom scene at Zawiyet el Meitin a monkey is shown carrying a heavy load on either end of a pole in a human-like fashion. A similar representation, albeit more vivid, is depicted on a New Kingdom ostracon showing a monkey as a water-carrier for a garden plot. Here, a small monkey is perched on the shoulders of the larger one which carries a yoke from which two large jars are suspended. 

On another ostracon, a monkey is depicted as a scribe, seemingly making inventory of grain harvest (only a hairy arm is left of the second figure, and it seems to belong to a monkey). A short text above the former identifies him as ‘the scribe of the granary.’
As Brunner-Traut notes: ‘monkey shown carrying water to the fields may reflect reality as monkeys were, apparently, used as men’s helpers, but that the cunning little fellow should also be able to do the accounts of grain is stretching our imagination too far.’ 

Ostraca from Dier el-Medina occasionally depict monkeys playing games and even helping set up a table (O. Berlin 21772). Apparently, game pieces were also made in the shape of a monkey and there is a limestone group of uncertain date in the British Museum, representing two monkeys playing a board game (B.M. 11888). Pliny the Elder (8, 215) wrote that monkeys were trained to play checkers.

A number of small limestone figurines from Amarna show monkeys engaged in a variety of activities, including driving chariots. These scenes were interpreted as a parody on the many temple and tomb wall representations of Akhenaten in his chariot. Other figurines, depicting monkeys just being monkeys, grooming or embracing, were also common. Most of these figurines were probably toys.

Performers

Monkeys were highly valued as pets but they were also prized for their performing skills, as their ‘aping’ of human concerts must had been immensely entertaining. They were even used as an example of teachability, as the students would be reminded that ‘monkeys are taught to dance’ or even ‘monkeys understand words.’

The role of a musician seems to had been the favored one for monkeys. As early as Old Kingdom, flute-playing monkeys were depicted on cylinder seals. This practice expanded tremendously during the New Kingdom, when monkeys were shown in a range of media and as performers on various instruments.  Representations of monkeys playing the harp, flute or oboe were not uncommon, and they were also shown playing the cymbal and lyre.

One interesting representation can be seen on an ostracon O.DeM 2281, where a monkey is shown seated on a cushioned stool and playing a harp, not unlike a musician at the banquet. Sweeney suggested that the text accompanying the scene records the lyrics of the monkey’s song: ‘I am the singer of…’

Another humorous scene can be seen in V Dynasty tomb of Kaaper.  A dwarf and a monkey are shown in two sub-registers, before the tomb owner and his wife. In the upper one a dwarf stands in front of a flutist, while in the register below a monkey faces a harpist. Both monkey and dwarf are shown in identical poses, one hand by the mouth and the other half-extended with thumb and index fingers touching – a common gesture in tomb scenes showing singers directing their instrumental accompanists.

Trained monkeys are also shown as dancers. In V Dynasty tomb at Sheikh Said, a monkey is pictured behind a group of dancers imitating their moves. 

Another captivating scene is represented on a Deir el-Medina tomb wall, where a man plays the harp to a dancing monkey, illustrating well the life onboard a ship. Monkeys are also shown playing on behalf of a dancer.

Plutarch wrote that Cleopatra had a pet monkey that was trained to dance. A more detailed description of a dancing monkey comes from Lucian (Pisc. 36), who described a gala with monkeys dressed in purple mantles with masks. Performance went as planned until one of the spectators threw some nuts into their midst causing them to smash their masks, tear their garments and fight bitterly for the nuts, ‘to the great amusement of the spectators’. According to Apuleius (11, 8), a monkey dressed in a saffron robe with a plaited hat once acted as a cupbearer in a procession honoring Isis.

There is also Aelian’s pronouncement (De Natura Animalium VI, 10) that ‘under Ptolemies, the Egyptians taught baboons their letters, how to dance, how to play the flute and the harp’. Apparently performing monkeys can still be seen busking on busy Cairo streets.

Harvesters

It has been more or less accepted in Egyptological literature that ancient Egyptians used baboons to harvest fruits such as figs, dates and doum-nuts from tree branches that were too high for human reach, not unlike the macaques are employed to pick coconuts in south-east Asia. Yet, representations of monkeys climbing the trees have later led some authors to question this claim, as the monkeys seem to have been portrayed not as helping the workers at harvest but rather as picking the fruit for their own enjoyment.

The most famous scene of monkeys ‘helpers’ comes from the tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan from the Middle Kingdom. The initial interpretation of the scene that held on for a long time was that the three baboons shown were helping the two men pick figs from the tree full of ripe fruit.

 

But the monkeys actually seem to be busy enjoying one of their favorite fruits instead of assisting the fig-gatherers with their work. There is however a puzzling baboon on the left reaching for the same piece of fruit as a fig-gatherer – whether this baboon is handing a picked fig to the man on the left so he can pack it in the basket or they are both going after the same piece of fruit still on the branch is hard to tell. Another possible interpretation is that the two men shown both with their baskets full of figs left some of the fruit for baboons to give them an incentive to work. Regardless, this scene alone cannot be taken as a proof that trained monkeys were in fact assisting with fruit harvest in ancient Egypt. In a recently discovered V Dynasty tomb of Hetpet at Giza,  there is another charming representation, where a monkey with the baby holding onto her back is shown carrying a basket and gathering fruit in an orchard.

Scenes showing monkeys climbing trees or eating fruit are most frequently portrayed in the New Kingdom. These representations can be found on wall reliefs and paintings (Deir el-Bahari, Medinet Habu, Beit el-Wali..), but also on other smaller works of art such as scarabs, cosmetic objects, spoons, statuettes, faience bowls, etc. Representations of tame baboons are particularly common on figured ostraca, most of which date back to the Ramesside period.

One of the common ostraca representations depicts monkeys eagerly climbing trunks of doum palms in order to reach clusters of delicious ripe fruit hanging from the branches. Sometimes these baboons are shown accompanied by their handlers, possibly young Nubians, who stand under the tree holding onto the tame monkeys’ long leashes as they climb.

 

 

One of these drawings shows a monkey descending from the tree carrying a bunch of the gathered fruit. Monkeys holding or being given a bunch of fruit are also shown on wall paintings and reliefs. Another series of figured ostraca shows the young keeper wielding a short stick, likely in an effort to drive the leashed baboons forward. In many of these scenes the monkey turns back as if to protest its handlers’ use of the stick.

One of the interpretations of these scenes is that they illustrate the process of taming wild baboons for pets and as workers. Houlihan, however, doubts that these illustrations have much to do with training baboons as laborers, but agrees it reasonable to assume newly imported or young monkeys might be shown in preparation for becoming family pets or performers.

The third series shows how fond of doum-nuts monkeys were – they are portrayed struggling to rifle large coarse net bags where the fruit was packed after the harvest. In one example (O. DeM 2276), a single monkey ‘beloved by its master’, is shown with a net bag of doum-nuts, while in another, two seated monkeys are shown trying to extract the appetizing fruit from a net, with a third monkey awaiting to take advantage. These are very accurate representations, also shown in wall painting from tomb of Rekhmire and in other art media.

The coarse nets depicted are also known from actual examples, such as the ones from Museo Egizio.

Baboons were fond of eating and it was not easy to keep them away. A scene depicted on a fragment of a wall from Berlin shows a baboon resisting with all his strength a boy who is trying to pull him away by the rope from a palm tree to their left.

Representation on a stela from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is thought to provide indisputable proof that monkeys were occasionally helping to harvest fruit in ancient Egypt. The scene depicts a woman with a lotus flower in her hair holding a bowl of fruit in her left hand and the leash of a monkey in her right hand. The scene is understood as showcasing monkey’s skills as harvester, judging by the full bowl of fruit in the keeper’s hand and the two pieces of fruit remaining on the ground. For Houlihan though, this may be just another instance of monkey business.

Houlihan initially thought it possible that baboons were trained to climb and shake branches of very tall date palm trees so the ripe fruit would fall to the ground and be collected. He later changed his view, arguing that scenes showing workers gathering fruit omit any presence of monkeys helping them; when shown, they are ‘happily feeding on their own’ independently of workers. According to him ‘monkeys were highly valuable and exotic animals, imported to live in temple precincts for religious reasons, to entertain and to be dear companions of wealthy Egyptians, not to be extra hands in the field.’

While Houlihan holds that monkeys were not used to harvest fruit in ancient Egypt, he sees it more likely that they were used as fruit-pickers in Nubia, where they were more readily available. It is interesting, however, that during the New Kingdom monkeys’ guardians were usually Nubians, so it seems logical to suppose that it is at least possible that trained monkeys were imported as well. More recently, el-Kilany argued that monkeys could have easily been trained to do this work and were perhaps allowed to climb up the trees to feed as an incentive to work.

Keimer raised a possibility that the motif of a monkey with a doum-palm had its own religious foundations. Monkeys shown on either side of a palm tree were also used to express New Year’s wishes. As ancient Egyptians wrote the word for year with a palm branch and, as a hieroglyph, monkey was used as a sign for nefer (good and beautiful), monkey-palm group would thus be equivalent to ‘Happy New Year’. In a similar context a monkey can also appear on seals, while a monkey holding nefer is a motif that bestows upon the owner of the seal-amulet a multitude of good things.

Monkey as a gift

There is a long history in Egypt of manufacture and export of amulets, figurines and vases in the shape of a monkey. Those were also given as presents, such as during the king’s jubilee. A number of these objects were carved in the shape of squatting monkeys accompanied by their offspring, alluding to fertility and motherhood but also, as aforementioned, to the foreign lands that supplied rare precious ingredients for the oils and ointments contained in the vases.

Old Kingdom monkey vessels were found at Byblos, for instance, which was a main trading partner of Egypt at the time. As  Arnold notes, at least some of these were gifts from the pharaohs to the city dignitaries with whom they wished to strengthen ties. A silver figure of female monkey holding an infant was given by Akhenaten to Burna-Buriash II, king of Babylon (cf. Amarna letter EA 14:48). Two faience monkey figurines with the name of Amenhotep II, were also found at Mycenae and Tiryns.

Egyptian portrayals certainly influenced artistic representations in other ancient cultures. Representations of monkeys were found in Late Bronze Age Aegean wall paintings for instance, including the Blue Monkey and Papyrus.

According to Evans, there is no doubt the blue monkey shown in papyrus thicket is the common Egyptian long-tailed monkey and that the green monkey from Egyptian wall paintings was translated to blue by Minoan artists. The link between crocus picking, crocus gatherers and monkeys is hinted at in other Aegean representations. It is uncertain whether the Minoans used monkeys to pick crocuses and other flowers  or brought them along for amusement. Shaw thinks it plausible that the monkeys were at least occasionally helpful companions to harvesters. 

Beloved pets / scenes under the chair

Going back to pet monkeys, scenes on wall paintings and reliefs commonly show ‘household favorites’ close to their masters or other members of the immediate family. Many representations show them under the tomb owner’s chair, or scampering about nearby. Such scenes are also common  on stelae and statues.

Monkeys are depicted beneath the chairs of both male and female owners or couple’s shared chair. They are shown alone, with other animals, or with their guardians. Rarely they appear with female keepers. In most of these scenes they are tied to a chair.

Due to their more aggressive and unpredictable behavior, baboons were less suitable for pets (figure of a baboon was used to illustrate the word for aggression), the females being preferred. Vervets on the other hand, were more compliant in temperament and were more frequently adopted as pets.
Egyptian artists were undoubtedly very skilled at illustrating the comical nature of these clever animals, as well as their ability to imitate the attitude and behavior of their masters.

It is not surprising that on one of these scenes (stela of Huya, XVIII Dynasty) a monkey is depicted smelling perfume of a lotus flower. Another interesting representation from a stela in Egyptian Museum Munich shows a monkey seated under the chair of a woman, holding with both hands a disk of a mirror with papyriform handle in front of him. This charming representation shows his interest in the object and likely his own reflection as well.

Monkeys are sometimes shown wearing decorative jewelry as well. In the tomb of Aba at Deir el-Gabrawi, a female monkey, which has been provided with a basket full of fruit, is pictured under its owner’s chair, adorned with bracelets,  anklets and collar like a woman.

Other representations show a monkey with an earring. In a scene from Sheikh Abd el-Qurna (TT129), for instance, a crouching monkey wearing an earring is depicted eating his fruit with one hand while the other one rests on the bowl.

Monkeys are often shown with a bowl of fruit in front of them, eating or playing with the fruit, seated or standing on their two or four limbs.

 

In one of these representations, a monkey  is shown holding a bunch of grapes in his left hand and about to eat three of them with his right hand. Less frequently, they can be seen eating onions as well.

Many scenes show monkeys with other household pets. Dogs were their most common companions, but other animals such as cats and geese also appear. In the tomb of Kai-Khent and his wife Hammamiya (V Dynasty), for example, two playful vervets are shown next to a dog close to their seated owners.

In the tomb of Inumin at Saqqara (VI Dynasty), a monkey is shown standing over the back of the dog with one of its front paws on the dog’s head. A similar representation from the New Kingdom tomb of Neferhotep (TT50) shows a cat with its front paw on monkey’s head and the back ones on its back.

Another interesting scene is shown in the tomb of Mentuherkhepeshef (TT20), at Dra Abu el-Naga. As Davies describes it: ‘The Egyptian artist has not often attained better comedy than in the attitude of dignified rebuke worn by the master’s dog when he finds that the lady’s ape has him in leash.’

In the tomb of Qenamun (TT162) at Thebes a monkey is depicted eating fruit with one hand while grasping a duck by its wings with another. It is difficult to tell whether the duck is pecking the nose of the dog in front of it, or the dog is trying to attack the duck. The monkey, however, appears indifferent to them, calmly eating his fruit.

A charming group of queen Tiye’s frolicking pets is shown under her throne in the tomb of Anen. A monkey is depicted mid-flight as it jumps over a cat holding a goose tightly in its right paw. Apparently, this scene is a unique representation of a monkey under a royal throne.

Some of these pet monkeys were so dear to their owners that they had them embalmed and buried close to their own graves. A beloved pet of Senenmut was buried with its favorite treat – a dish of grapes or raisins. Favored pets were also found in royal burials but possibly the best known is a pet baboon buried with God’s Wife of Amun, Maatkare Mutemhet of the XXI Dynasty, discovered in Deir el-Bahari cache of royal mummies. Egyptologists initially assumed a small mummy found with the priestess in her sarcophagus to be that of her child, but the x-ray examination later revealed it to be a female hamadryas baboon.  However, even with all this affection, animal remains show that monkeys were kept in unfavorable conditions and their life expectancy was limited. Malnourishment, limited freedom of movement and lack of light were the main culprits that led to disease and premature death.  

Trained monkeys elsewhere

Employing tame monkeys to harvest fruit crops is known in other regions in the world. In south-east Asia, the pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) has long been employed to assist with the demanding task of harvesting coconuts, and this practice still continues today. These monkeys are typically taken from the wild when they are about a year old and trained with great patience to twist young coconuts so they can fall to the ground, eventually becoming strong enough to twist off full-sized fruit. Male macaques are thus preferred for their superior strength. Trained monkeys with collars around their necks would climb tall coconut palm trees, while their guardians would curb their movements with long leashes attached to them.

Trained baboons also worked as shepherds, ox-cart drivers and signalmen, as illustrated in cases Chiney and Seyfarth recorded in South Africa and Namibia.

In 1836, British explorer James Alexander was travelling through present day Namibia where he encountered goat herding baboons among the Namaqua tribes. Not only did the baboons reliably follow the herds and keep the animals together, but they also warned of predators. As they guided the goats back to the compound, they could sometimes be spotted riding the largest goat.

A similar case from 1961 is described by German naturalist Walter Hoesch in his report of Ahla – adult female baboon shepherd on a Namibian farm. For seven years, Ahla would groom the goats and take them to the fields and back every day. She kept watch for both the predators and a straying goat or kid, for whom she would search anxiously for, all the while calling “ho ho” until she found the missing animal.

One of the most famous examples of working baboons had been assigned with manipulating railway signals at Uitenhage railway station located some twenty-three miles from Port Elizabeth in South Africa. The baboon called Jack worked as an assistant for the disabled signalman James Wide. James spotted Jack one Saturday in the marketplace where the latter was driving an ox wagon to town. James was immediately impressed with Jack’s potential and persuaded his owner to give Jack to him. James was told by Jack’s ex-owner that every evening Jack required a ‘tot of good Cape brandy’ or he would refuse to work and sulk.

Soon enough, Jack was driving James to work every morning. Jack then learnt to operate railway signals to the horror of a prominent lady who spotted him at work while traveling from Cape town to Port Elizabeth. In disbelief, the officials started the investigation only to find Jack signaling trains. James convinced the inspectors to test Jack’s skills, resulting in Jack’s passing with flying colors and his official employment. In nine years of service, Jack the Signalman never made a single mistake.

In some of the earlier examples, during his Voyage to China, among the curious and interesting things he observed during his travels, Osbeck notes the keeping of pet monkeys by the Javanese, and the monkeys in China gathering rhubarb and pounding rice.

In 1670, Olfert Dapper wrote of monkeys in Sierra Leone: ‘…there is one, of a certain species they call Baris, which they catch when little; raise, and train so well, that these monkeys can give almost as much service as slaves… They can grind millet in the mortar and go to draw water in a pitcher. They know how to turn the spit, and to do a thousand clever little tricks which greatly amuse their masters.’ Going back still further, in Petri Gassendi’s Life of the French scholar Peiresc, he also writes of a particular kind of monkeys in Guinea called Baris, ‘of so gentle a disposition that it could be readily trained, taught to wear clothes, play on a pipe, husk grain in a mortar, assist in keeping the house swept and in order and in performing various other menial services’.

About 70 years earlier, one of the early explorers of natural history, José de Acosta, published the following account: ‘I saw one [monkey] in Carthagene [Cartagena] in the Governor’s house, so taught, as the things he did seemed incredible: they sent him to the Tavern for wine, putting the pot in one hand, and the money in the other; and they could not possibly get the money out of his hand, before he had his pot full of wine. If any children met him in the street, and threw any stones at him, he would set his pot down on the one side and cast stones against the children till he had assured his way, then would he return to carry home his pot. And which is more, although he was a good bibber of wine (as I have oftentimes seen him drink, when his master has given it him) yet would he never touch it until leave was given him.’

In his account of ancient Egyptians Wilkinson also wrote: ‘Many animals were tamed in Egypt for various purposes… and in Jimma country, which lies to the south of Abyssinia, monkeys were taught as officiating torch-bearers at a supper party: seated in a row, on a raised bench, they hold the lights until the departure of the guests, and patiently await their own repast as a reward for their services. Sometimes a refractory subject fails in his accustomed duty, and the harmony of the party is for a moment disturbed, particularly if an unruly monkey throws his lighted torch into the midst of the unsuspecting guests; but the stick and privation of food is the punishment of the offender; and it is by these persuasive arguments alone that they are prevailed upon to perform their duty in so delicate an office.’

Monkeys trained to pick coconuts

Bibliography

A. J. Evans, The Palace of Minos. A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early
Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos. 2:2: Town Houses in Knossos of the New Era and Restored West Palace Section, London: Macmillan and Co., 1928
A. Varille, La tombe de Ni–Ankh–Pepi à Zâouyet el–Mayetîn, MIFAO 70 (1938)
A. Woods et al., The Beni Hassan Visual Dictionary: Khnumhotep II, Sydney: Macquarie University, 2018. https://benihassan.com/exhibition/Kanawati-Evans-BH1-Pl-20b-Beni-Hassan-3-Khnumhotep-II-Chapel-Scene-West-wall-Right-Lower-section-Wall/
B. Bruyère, Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Médineh, 1927, FIFAO 5 (1928)
C. K. Wilkinson, M. Hill, Egyptian Wall Paintings: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Collection of Facsimiles. New York:Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983
D. Kessler, “Monkeys and Baboons”, in D. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001
D. Arnold, An Egyptian Bestiary, MMAB Vol. 52, No. 4, 1995
D. Arnold, E. Pischikova – “Stone Vessels: Luxury Items with Manifold Implications” in Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids , J. P. Allen (ed.). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art 1999
D. Flores, “Topsy-Turvy World”, in Egypt, Israel, and the Ancient Mediterranean World: Studies in Honor of D. B. Redford, G. N. Knoppers, A. Hirsch (eds), Leiden:Brill 2014
D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind, Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008
D. Sweeney, “Monkey Business at Deir el-Medina” in: H. Amstutz, A. Dorn (eds.) Fuzzy Boundaries: Festschrift für Antonio Loprieno, vol. 2, Hamburg, 2015
E. Brunner-Traut, “Ägyptische Tiermärchen”, ZÄS 80 (1955)
E. Brunner-Traut, Egyptian Artists’ Sketches: Figured Ostraka from the Gayer-Anderson Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Leiden: NINO, 1979
E. Brunner-Traut, Die altägyptischen Scherbenbilder : Bildostraka, der deutschen Museen und Sammlungen, Wiesbaden :F. Steiner, 1956
E. el-Kilany, “Monkeys in the Daily Life Scenes of Ancient Egypt”, GM 238 (2013)
E. el-Kilany, H. Mahran, “What Lies Under the Chair? A Study in Ancient Egyptian Private Tomb Scenes, Part I: Animals”, JARCE Vol 51 (2015)
E. G. Wolfson, Pictorial Representations of Monkeys and Simianesque Creatures in Greek Art, PhD Thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, 2018
E. H. Cline, “Monkey Business in the Bronze Age Aegean: The Amenhotep II Faience Figurines at Mycenae and Tiryns”, ABSA 86 (1991)
E. W. Gudger, “Monkeys Trained as Harvesters- Instances of a Practice Extending from Remote Times to the Present”, Natural History Magazine 23 (1923)
H. G. Fischer – “A Scribe of the Army in a Saqqara Mastaba of the Early Fifth Dynasty”, JNES Vol. 18, No. 4 (Oct., 1959)
H. Niliacus, The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo, translated by George Boas, Princeton Univ. Press,1993
H. te Velde, “Some Remarks on the Mysterious Language of the Baboons” in J.K. Kamstra, H. Milde (eds), Funerary Symbols and Religion (Fs. Heerma van Voss) Kampen: J.H. Kok, 1988
J. Hammer, “Trained Animals in Antiquity: A Portion of a Paper”, The Classical Outlook, Vol. 20, No. 6 (March, 1943)
J. J. Tylor, Wall Drawings and Monuments of El Kab. The Tomb of Paheri, London: EEF, 1895
J. J. Tylor, Wall Draw. and Monuments of El Kab. The Tomb of Sebeknekht, London: B. Quaritch, 1896
J. V. D’Abbadie, Catalogue des ostraca figurés de Deir el Médineh, DFIFAO 2, fasc. 1-4, 1936-1959
J. V. D’Abbadie, “Les singes familiers dans l’ancienne Égypte (Peintures et bas-reliefs). I-III” Revue d’Égyptologie 16-18 (1964-1966)
K. Dyroff, B. Pörtner, Aegyptische Grabsteine und Denksteine aus süddeutschen Sammlungen herausgegeben von Wilhelm Spiegelberg. II. München. Strassburg : Schlesier & Schweikhardt, 1904
L. Evans, “Animal Behaviour in Egyptian Art: Representations of the. Natural World in Memphite Tomb Scenes”. ACE Studies, Oxford, 2010
L. Keimer, “Pavian und Dum-Palme”, MDAIK 8 (1938)
M. C. Shaw, “The Aegean Garden”, AJA Vol. 97, No. 4 (Oct., 1993)
Moyer, J. Wm., “The murky ethics of making monkeys pick our coconuts“, Washington Post 2015
N. de G. Davies, Five Theban Tombs: Being Those of Mentuherkhepeshef, User, Daga, Nehemawäy and Tati, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1913
N. de G. Davies, The Rock Tombs of Deir el Gebrâwi. Volume 1: Tomb of Aba and Smaller Tombs of the Southern Group, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1902
N. de G. Davies, The Rock Tombs of Sheikh Said, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1901
N. M. Davies, “Nubians in the tomb of Amunedjeh”, JEA 28 (Dec. 1942)
N. M.Davies, A. H. Gardiner, The Tomb of Huy, Viceroy of Nubia in the Reign of Tut’Ankhamūn (No. 40). London: Egypt Exploration Society,1926
N. M. Davies, N. de G. Davies, Scenes from some Theban tombs: (nos. 38, 66, 162, with excerpts from 81), Oxford: Griffith Institute at the University Press, 1963
N. Kanawati, L. Evans, Beni Hassan: Volume I: The Tomb of Khnumhotep II (Australian Centre for Egyptology: Reports 36), Oxford :Aris and Phillips, 2014
P. E. Newberry, Beni Hasan, Vol.3, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1896
P. F. Houlihan, “Animals in Egyptian Art and Hieroglyphs” in A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East (HdO 64), B. J. Collins (ed.). Leiden: Brill 2001
P. F Houlihan, “Harvesters or Monkey Business?”, Göttinger Miszellen 157 (1997)
P. F. Houlihan, The Animal World of the Pharaohs, London: Thames & Hudson, 1996
P. F. Houlihan, Wit and Humour in Ancient Egypt, London: The Rubicon Press 2001
R. Janssen, J. Janssen Egyptian Household Animals, Aylesbury: Shire Publications, 1989
V. Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993
W. M. F. Petrie, Deshasheh: 1897, London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898
W. Hoesch, “Uber Ziegen hütende Bärenpaviane (Papio ursinus ruacana)”, Z. Tierpsychol. 18 (1961)