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Shabti

Place of production Egypt
Date 15th–13th centuries B.C.
Object type tomb equipment
Medium, technique Egyptian alabaster (calcite)
Dimensions

26 x 9 cm

Inventory number 51.6
Collection Egyptian Art
On view Museum of Fine Arts, Basement Floor, Ancient Egypt, Funerary beliefs

Shabtis were statuettes placed in tombs to take over the tasks the deceased had to perform in the afterlife. In the New Kingdom, shabtis were characterized by a diversity of designs and were made of a lot of different materials. Some figures are wrapped tightly in shrouds, while others wear the festive garment of the living. The neatly fashioned Budapest statuette belongs to a man named Minmose who has a tripartite wig; his chest is adorned with a broad wesekh-collar. The hieroglyphic inscription arranged in eight lines on the body, wrapped in a shroud, contains the New Kingdom version of spell 6 from the Book of the Dead. At the end of the text, the title “sem-priest” can be read, which was held by the owner, thus, he played an important role in the funerary cult.

References

Vanek, Zsuzsanna, “Statuettes funéraires dans les collections égyptiennes en Hongrie”, Bulletin de la Société d’Égyptologie 11 (1987), p. 119-132.

Nagy, István, Vezető az Egyiptomi Kiállításhoz, A Szépművészeti Múzeum gyűjteményei/The collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest 2, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1999, p. 51-52, fig. 37.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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