<em>Shabty of the Lady of the House Iuy</em>, ca. 1539–1400 B.C.E. Limestone, 12 1/16 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/16 in. (30.6 x 9.6 x 5.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.129E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.129E_PS2.jpg)

Shabty of the Lady of the House Iuy, ca. 1539–1400 B.C.E. Limestone, 12 1/16 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/16 in. (30.6 x 9.6 x 5.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.129E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.129E_PS2.jpg)

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Why are their hands around their chest?

This pose indicates that they represent the dead and served to identify them with the god Osiris, the king of the afterlife. The is referred to by Egyptologists as mummiform--mummy shaped--or, especially in the case of a king, Osiride--Osiris-like.

Shabties like these would be placed in the tomb. They're essentially servants to the deceased, who would perform tasks like farming for them in the afterlife.

Tell me more.

These figurines were inscribed to the person they were buried with and were thought to come to life in order to help with chores, especially agricultural tasks.

They came in a wide range of qualities, from customized and individualized (the most expensive) to mold made and mass produced.

Shabty of the Lady of the House Iuy

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

The Egyptians manufactured funerary figurines, originally called shabties, as early as Dynasty 12 (1932–1759 B.C.E.). The earliest shabties are inscribed with either the deceased’s name (see nos. 1 and 2) or a simple form of Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. The rarity and high quality of the early shabties suggest that they were costly items produced for privileged persons.

Later, Chapter 6 began appearing more frequently on funerary figurines. The text mentions that they do agricultural tasks for the dead person: irrigating the fields, cultivating crops, and clearing away sand that blew in from the nearby desert.

As substitutes for the deceased, these figurines were sometimes given their own sarcophagi (see no. 6). To emphasize the agricultural function of the figurines, hoes and grain baskets were added to them (no. 8).

Wood (nos. 9–11), stone (nos. 12–14, 16), faience (no. 17), metal, and other materials were used beginning in Dynasty 18. By the end of the New Kingdom, statuettes for a single person were often mold-made by the hundreds and even thousands. Faience became the medium of choice, first in blue and later in light green or light blue (nos. 17, 20, 21).

MEDIUM Limestone

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1539–1400 B.C.E.

DYNASTY first half of Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 12 1/16 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/16 in. (30.6 x 9.6 x 5.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.129E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone mummiform ushabti inscribed for a woman named Iwy. This ushabti was once probably meant to be buried in the small limestone sarcophagus 37.128E. The face is painted reddish-brown; they eyes and wig are painted black. Hieroglyphs were once inlaid in blue frit. Registers of inscription are separated with reddish-brown paint. Condition: Feet missing. Nose, chest and hands battered. Some loss of paint from face and most of wig.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Shabty of the Lady of the House Iuy, ca. 1539–1400 B.C.E. Limestone, 12 1/16 x 3 3/4 x 2 3/16 in. (30.6 x 9.6 x 5.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.129E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.129E_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 37.129E_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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