#shawabti

[lionofchaeronea]

Shabti (faience with green glaze, details in black; 14.5 cm [5.7 in] high x 4.8 cm [1.9 in] wide x 2.4 cm [0.9 in] thick) of the 23rd Dynasty pharaoh Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot II (regnal years debated; either 845-820 or 834-809 BCE). Like other shabtis, this small figure was intended to do labor on the pharaoh's behalf in the afterlife.

Takelot II is a hazy figure, but the present consensus among Egyptologists is that he is identical with the Takelot who served as High Priest of Amun at Thebes and whose grandfather was the 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Osorkon II. If this theory is correct, Takelot ruled Middle and Upper Egypt from his power base at Thebes, while the 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Shoshenq III ruled Lower Egypt from Tanis in the northeastern Nile Delta. Like the other rulers of the 22nd and 23rd Dynasties, Takelot II was ethnically an ancient Libyan, coming from the area west of the Nile Delta; the founder of the 22nd Dynasty, Shoshenq I, was a chieftain of the Berber tribe known as the Meshwesh.

Now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Photo credit: LACMA.

[spice-hill]

Ushabti of Pahemnetjer

New Kingdom 19th Dynasty

Faience, ink

Egyptian

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This shabti is from the 19th dynasty, time of Ramesses II. It is made for the "master craftsman" (which refers to the High Priest of Ptah at Memphis), specifically Pahemnetjer (referred to as the "Priest"). This priest is known from other sources, providing the date, and probably would have been buried at Saqqara.

The problem with this ushabti is its source. University of Michigan excavators found it in a street context in the Graeco-Roman town of Karanis, over 100 miles (160 km) away from its original burial place at Saqqara.

Located at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

[spice-hill]

Shabti, various periods

Egyptian

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A Shabti is a small human figure representing a person who would perform a given task for the deceased in the afterlife. The Amduat (underworld) included tracts of land granted to the deceased by the sun god Ra from which the blessed dead could receive their nourishment. Unsurprisingly, wealthy nobles and royalty did not plan on doing any work themselves and so they would take their (symbolic) servants with them.

Early versions (Shabti or Shabtiu) were modelled to represent the task that they would perform and given tiny tools with which to complete their tasks. Later on, Shawabti (and Ushabti) were inscribed with a magical formula which would activate them. Shabti were made from various materials including; faience, wax, clay, wood, stone, terracotta and, occasionally, glass and bronze.

-Description from Ancient Egypt Online

[glencairnmuseum]

Ancient Egypt has been in the news this week! This Egyptian shawabti in Glencairn’s collection, made from blue faience, is inscribed for a deceased woman named Isit-em-khet. Multiple shawabtis were placed in a tomb to serve as substitutes for the mummy in case it was damaged, and also to act as servants to do the agricultural work of the deceased in the Netherworld.

During her lifetime, Isit-em-khet served as a musician-priestess in the the temple of Amun. (From Deir-el Bahri, western Thebes. Dynasty 21, 1070-946 B.C.)

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Shawabti. Place of origin: Egypt Deir El-Medina Period: 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom Date: 1292-1190 BC. Medium: Wood, pigment, gesso.

[egyptomaniac-blog]

Shabtis (also shawabtis or ushabtis) were included in tombs of the wealthy and their purpose was to act as servants who carried out the everyday tasks for the deceased kings and nobles in the afterlife. They originated during the Middle Kingdom, with a few shabtis appearing in tombs. Later in ancient Egyptian history, the number of shabtis included one for each day of the year, plus one 'overseer' shabti for every group of ten shabtis, increasing the number of shabtis to 401!