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Lot Essay
The origin of shabtis possibly lies in the growth of the cult of the mummiform god Osiris. Once mummified, the deceased became assimilated with the funerary god and his body transformed into the Sah, preserved for the eternity of the afterlife. First made in wood and wax, shabtis were placed in a miniature coffin, wrapped in linen and anointed with preservative oils, and were destined to take the place of the mummy if it was destroyed. In the 12th Dynasty, when well-carved stone figures like the present lot appeared, the notion developed that the shabti could be called upon by the deceased in the afterlife to perform any task (cf. W.C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt, vol. I, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1953, pp. 326-330).
The quality of the 'portrait' head on our example suggests a royal workshop. The depiction of three horizontal bands is a forerunner of the rows of text from Chapter Six of the Book of the Dead which enveloped the whole shabti in the New Kingdom and later, the words of which gave life to the deceased image.
The quality of the 'portrait' head on our example suggests a royal workshop. The depiction of three horizontal bands is a forerunner of the rows of text from Chapter Six of the Book of the Dead which enveloped the whole shabti in the New Kingdom and later, the words of which gave life to the deceased image.