1884.57.7

Collection type

Object

Description

Wooden shabti figure.

Geographical reference

Egypt

Africa > Northern Africa > Egypt

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Archaeological period: Ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom, uncertain

Date collected

?By 1878

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Process Carved

Dimensions

Length: max 197 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.57.7 Other numbers: 85

Research and responses

See entry on Shawabti in the "British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt"by Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson : "shabti (Egyptian ushabti, shawabti) Funerary figurine, useually mummiform in appearance, which developed during the Middle Kingdom out of the funerary statuettes and models provided in the tombs of the Old Kingdom.

The etymology of the word shabti is unknown, as is the variant shawabti, but by the Late Period (747-332BC) the term ushabti, meaning 'answerer', was in general use. The purpose of the statuettes was to spare their owner from menial corvée labour in the afterlife, which would be required for the deceasedto produce his or her food. The figures stood in for both the deceased (in whose name they would answer the call to work) and the servants of the deceased. Some shabtis are uninscribed but most are decorated with Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, which is therefore known as the 'shabti chapter'. Several forms of this text have been identified by Hans Schneider, but its basic purpose was to enable the shabtis to accomplish their tasks: 'O shabti, if [name of deceased] be summoned to do any work which has to be done in the realm of the dead - to make arable the fields, to irrigate the land or to convey sand from east to west; "Here am I", you shall say, "I shall do it".' Early New Kingdom shabtis were sometimes accompanied by model hoes and baskets and from the Third Intermediate Period (1069 - 747 BC) onwards some 'overseer figures' were provided with a whip, while later examples have such details moulded or carved as part of the statuette. New Kingdom shabtis were also occasionally shown in ordinary dress rather then in the guise of a mummy. Initially the deceased was provided with only one shabti, but by the New Kingdom the numbers had increased significantly so that there might be 365 figures, one for every day of the year, accompanied by thirty-six overseers, giving a total of 401, although as many as seven hundred are said to have been found in the tomb of Sety I (1294-1279 BC). The increasing number of shabtis led to the manufacture of special containers now known as shabti-boxes. The quality of shabtis and their material varies widely, although wood, clay, wax, stone, bronze, faience and even glass are known. Faience is the material most commonly associated with shabtis, particularly with regard to the fine examples of the 26th to 30th Dynasties (664-343 BC). The poorest quality shabtis were barely recognizable as such, and some - especially of the 17th Dynasty (1650-1550 BC) - were little more than wooden pegs. The use of shabtis died out during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC)." [MdeA 21/10/98]

Search terms: Religion, Death, Figure, Grave Good