Shabti Figure
Artist
Unknown
DateThird Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21, 1075-945 B.C.E.
MediumFaience
DimensionsOverall: 4 in. (10.2 cm)
ClassificationsEgyptian
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2217.4
Terms
- Funerary objects
- Blue
Collections
On View
On viewLabel TextShabties of Pa-Sen Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 21, 1075-945 B.C.E. Faience, glazed Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2217.3-4, 71.2217.7, respectively Shabties, or ushabties ("answerers"), appear in abundance in Egyptian tombs. These tiny, mummiform human figures were designed to function as servants of the deceased and to labor for them in the eternal fields of the afterlife. Many are inscribed with their owner's name-here, Imenemipet and Pa-Sen-and carry invocations meant to join the owner in death with Osiris, god of the underworld. By the New Kingdom, many well-stocked tombs had 365 shabty figures, one for each day of the year. Though they were sometimes fashioned of wood or stone, shabties made of faience, or glazed ceramic, are the most common.
Unknown
New Kingdom or Third Intermediate Period, from late Dynasty 18 to Dynasty 21, ca