    
|
 |
  
Marble Height: 21.5 cm 
As scribe of the gods, Thoth had charge of the scales at the Weighing
of the Heart ceremony, which was conducted after death to establish
the proclaimed virtue of the deceased; the god frequently appears in
the form of a baboon seated atop the balance, from which vantage point
he could announce to Osiris that the dead man was indeed `true of
voice'. This was one of Freud's favourite antiquities. The
conflation within the one figure of intellect and instinct clearly
appealed to Freud, whose mission, after all, was to reveal the
profound influence of instinct-sexuality and aggression-on man's
intellectual achievements.
|
All Rights Reserved, Copyright (c) 1996 KAJIMA CORPORATION