Shabti
Item
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Title
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Shabti
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Rights
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Creative Commons / Media and Images are property of The British Museum
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Creator
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Named in inscription: Sety I
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Description
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Blue-glazed structure Shabti of Sety I: missing the lower leg portion. Sety I is depicted wealing the striped royal "nemes" headcloth, which was previously adorned with a rearing cobra over his brow, a thick collar that resembles beads made of glazed composition, and bracelets that would also have been made of glazed composition, with decorations painted in black (likely manganese dioxide). He is holding a hoe in each hand, and a rectangular grain sack is dangling over his right shoulder. These farming implements serve as a reminder of the role that shabtis played as labourers in the Afterlife. Chapter 6 of the 'Book of the Dead' contains a carefully selected band of text that lists the tasks. Despite being manufactured from a mould, the facial features, hoes and grain sack were most likely added with a sharp tool prior to fire; this common practise explains why the features of shabtis made from moulds vary in appearance.The devices' absence of glaze suggests that the item was self-glazed.
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Format
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Shabti
Dimensions
Height: 22.80 centimetres (max)
Weight: 0.71 kilograms
Width: 9.60 centimetres
Depth: 9.60 centimetres
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Contributor
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Donated by: Arthur Lyttelton Annesley
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Identifier
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Materials
glazed composition
Technique
glazed
painted
mould-made
tooled
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Rights Holder
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The British Museum
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Subject
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(Thebes): Biban el-Muluk (Valley of the Kings - Thebes)
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Temporal Coverage
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19th Dynasty
shabti