Small figures of baboons like this one, mass produced for worshippers, were found in great numbers in deposits of temple refuse at Abydos.  In the Predynastic and Archaic periods, baboons were connected to the cult of the sun god, possibly because of the animals' vigorous and noisy reactions to sunrise.  Similar figures have been found at Hierakonpolis and Elephantine, showing the important role of baboons in cult. 

Later, during the Old Kingdom, the baboon became associated with the god Djehuty, or Thoth.