How did the monkey die in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?

In "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the monkey dies after eating poisoned dates. The scene takes place in Cairo, where Indiana Jones and Sallah discover that a monkey has died after consuming fruit prepared by the Nazis.

Sallah notices the danger and stops Indy from eating one of the dates. The dead monkey provides a visual warning that the food has been tampered with, while the scene establishes the Nazis' willingness to use poison and deception. The film does not identify the exact chemical used, so answers such as cyanide are speculation rather than established canon.

The moment occurs during the search for Marion Ravenwood and the Ark of the Covenant. It is easy to remember the monkey as having been poisoned directly, but the movie's immediate cause is eating the contaminated dates. The answer therefore describes both the method and the fatal food involved.