Ancient Egyptian Blue Faience Shabti with Hieroglyphic Inscription
£ 2,250.00
A very fine Ancient Egyptian, light blue-glazed faience shabti with hieroglyphic inscriptions to the front. The figure wears a plain lappet wig and a collar around his neck. The face is modelled in relief with the facial features (eyebrows, nose and mouth) portrayed in black pigment. Linear strokes represent the arms in a standard pose, shown right crossed over left on the chest, with the hands holding a pair of hoes. The figure carries two bags over his shoulders, possibly a basket for grain or flasks. Painted on the back is a curved yoke with crossed cords and two pots, along with a brick mould underneath. Such agricultural equipment were characteristics of ‘worker’ shabtis, included in burials to provide labour in the afterlife. Upon the front of the shabti, a column of hieroglyphs is inscribed in black pigment. The inscription transliterates as “sḥḏ wsỉr ḳnw ḫꜥs mꜢꜥ ḫrwm”. This translates as “The illuminated one, the Osiris, Qenu-khayes, the justified”. The first line includes the hieroglyphic signs: 𓌌 the combination of cobra and pear-shaped mace, 𓇶 the sun with rays, and 𓋴 the folded cloth. Together they form the word “sḥḏ” meaning “the illuminated one”. The next two lines consist of 3 hieroglyphic signs; the eye 𓁹, the throne 𓊨 and a seated god 𓀭. Together they form the word “wsỉr”, referring to the god Osiris. In this case, the deceased is referred to as “the Osiris”. The subsequent signs are less clear but these hieroglyphs should refer to the title or name of the deceased.
Date: Circa 1292-1069 BC
Period: New Kingdom, 19th-20th Dynasty
Provenance: Formerly in a North American collection, 1990s. From the collection of a London, UK, gentleman.
Condition: Fine condition. Some signs of wear such as discolouration, surface pitting, scratches, and a minor chip to the base.
In stock
Shabtis or ushabtis are among the most numerous of all Egyptian antiquities, as they played a major role in funeral rites. As small figurines buried with the deceased, they were intended to act as servants for the dead and to perform any manual labour for their master in the afterlife. To reflect this function, they are usually depicted in the form of a mummy holding tools in their hands – baskets, mattocks and hoes. The addition of the pendular pots was especially favoured from the end of the 18th Dynasty to the beginning of the 20th Dynasty. It was necessary that each shabti present in the grave had the name of their master inscribed on it and also a summoning spell to which they replied. In fact, shabti – or ushabti – translates as “the answerer”. Such figurines could also be inscribed with passages from the Book of the Dead, the intention of which was to secure safety for the deceased in the afterlife.
To discover more about Egyptian shabtis, please visit our relevant blog post: How Ancient Egyptian Shabtis and Funerary Statuettes Watched Over the Dead.
