Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Shabty of the Man Maya

ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.

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Object Label

Egyptians began using the hieroglyphic writing system to record language. Comprised of such recognizable elements as objects and animals, each hieroglyphic sign could be interpreted in different ways. Depending on the context, a hieroglyph could be read phonetically (representing a sound), as a logograph (representing a word), or as a determinative (representing a concept).

The hieroglyphic inscription on this statuette identifies the owner as the artisan named Maya, and records for him a chapter from the Book of the Dead.

Caption

Shabty of the Man Maya, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment, glass, 16 x 3 9/16 x 5 1/2 in. (40.7 x 9 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.226.21. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.226.21_SL1.jpg)

Title

Shabty of the Man Maya

Date

ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 18

Period

New Kingdom

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Wood, pigment, glass

Classification

Funerary Object

Dimensions

16 x 3 9/16 x 5 1/2 in. (40.7 x 9 x 14 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

Accession Number

86.226.21

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • What is a shabti?

    Shabties are small figurines that often look like little mummy figures. They are usually inscribed with magical spells that help them to perform various tasks in the underworld.
    They basically act as servants or personal assistants to a deceased person! They were buried with that person in order to help him/her in the next life.
    Like what tasks? Daily chores like a servant does?
    The deceased were expected to do work in the afterlife and shabties served as stand-ins so deceased souls could relax instead of working. For example, some of the shabties were specifically designed to perform "agricultural tasks" -- that is, farming!
    The English word "shabti" comes from the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs meaning "the-one-who-replies."

  • Who is Shabty?

    Shabty isn't actually a who, but a what. A shabty is essentially a helper mummy, a small figurine of a servant. This figurine would be buried with an individual to help them with tasks like farming in the afterlife.

  • Can you please give me info on this piece?

    Sure! First off, shabties are small figurines that look like mummies. They are usually inscribed with magical spells that help them perform tasks in the afterlife on behalf of the deceased person they are buried with.
    They basically act as servants or personal assistants. The most common task they took up on behalf of the deceased was farming and many are even shown holding farming tools like hoes.
    The owner of the shabty was a man named Maya who was himself an artisan responsible for making royal shabties and burial equipment. That's likely why his own figure is of such high quality and large size.
    Are you interested in knowing what the inscription across the front says?
    Yes
    Okay, it reads: "The illuminated the illuminator, the servant Maya, he says, 'O shabti, if (Maya) is chosen, reckoned, or conscripted to do any work that is done in the necropolis–to cultivate the fields, irrigate the banks, (or) to transport sand of east to the west–(I will do it), here I am! (So) you will say.'"

  • Is this a shabty?

    That is indeed a shabty! This one belonged to a man named Maya and is the largest one I have ever seen!
    Multiples of these funerary figurines would be buried in a tomb and were meant to come to life in the afterlife and help the deceased especially with chores and agriculture.

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