<em>Shabty of the Man Maya</em>, 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)

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)

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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.

Shabty of the Man Maya

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

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.

MEDIUM Wood, pigment, glass

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

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

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 86.226.21

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Large wooden shawabti of the s'dm-'s May with inlaid eyebrows and eyes; three horizontal lines of text on chest and two columns below down to top of feet. Smooth tripartite lappet wig. Hieroglyphs filled with pigment now discolored brownish-black. Formerly bearded. Condition: Sound, but there is a repair on top of the head; the tip of the nose, the inlays of the ends of the cosmetic lines and the beard are missing. The feet are repaired.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

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)

IMAGE overall, 86.226.21_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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