Uninscribed Shabty, 664–525 B.C.E. Faience, 4 1/8 x 1 x 3/4 in. (10.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.189E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.189E_front_PS2.jpg)
Uninscribed Shabty, 664–525 B.C.E. Faience, 4 1/8 x 1 x 3/4 in. (10.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.189E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.189E_back_PS2.jpg)
Uninscribed Shabty, 664–525 B.C.E. Faience, 4 1/8 x 1 x 3/4 in. (10.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.189E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.189E_tlf.jpg)
Uninscribed Shabty
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Shabties were made from stone, wood, faience, and (rarely) metal depending on the tomb owner’s priorities. Amunemhat had a smaller number of very fine shabties, including the painted stone example shown here and a wooden example exhibited nearby. The uninscribed shabty also shown here is one of up to 360 examples—one for each day of the Egyptian year—molded in faience, an inexpensive ceramic material made from sand.
Shabties magically performed agricultural work required of the deceased in the afterlife.
Shabties magically performed agricultural work required of the deceased in the afterlife.
MEDIUM
Faience
DATES
664–525 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 26
PERIOD
Late Period
DIMENSIONS
4 1/8 x 1 x 3/4 in. (10.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.189E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
[One of] fifteen blue faience mummiform ushabtis. Only the hands are indicated in relief, each holding a hoe. Each sports a beard and a non-striated tripartite wig. A bag is incised over the left shoulder. The hands are each positioned over the lappets of thw wig. None of these ushabtis is inscribed.
Condition: The group ranges in color from a light blue to green. Some show good traces of glaze while others show no remaining glaze whatsoever. Several show spots of discoloration and one (37.195E) shows chipping on the left side of the head.
Comments: Although these ushabtis did not all come from the same mold, they show such stylistic affinities and are uniform enough in size that we can conclude that they most likely came from the same burial.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Uninscribed Shabty, 664–525 B.C.E. Faience, 4 1/8 x 1 x 3/4 in. (10.5 x 2.5 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.189E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.189E_front_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE
front, 37.189E_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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