Shabti

From ArchaeoWiki

Shabti of Qenherkhepeshef, ‘Scribe in the Place of Truth’. Deir el-Medina, 19th Dynasty. Limestone: height: 29.3 cm; width: 8.7 cm; depth: 5.3 cm. British Museum EA 33940.

A shabti (ushabti)

Forms and Development

Peg Shabtis

Wooden peg shabti. 17th-early 18th Dynasties. Unprovenanced. Wood: height: 8.92 cm; width: 1.40 cm; depth: 2.00 cm. British Museum EA 36244.

The crudest instances of the shabti are termed "peg shabtis" on account of their shape, somewhat resembling a traditional wooden peg. At their best, it is possible to recognise in peg shabtis a basic, stylised human figure, usually standing on a low plinth. The underlying mummiform concept of the shabti is most successfully conveyed in these naive objects, the feet not separated and the body undetailed. Peg shabtis generally do not depict implements and facial features (if they exist) are usually conveyed merely by rough incisions. Frequently, the ultimate indicator that an object that might otherwise be considered a mere wooden stick is the cursory shabti spell painted on the front of the figure.

Bibliography

• Aston, David A. [1994], “The Shabti Box: a Typological Study”, Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 74 (1994) pp.21-54.

• Aubert, Jacques-F. and Aubert, Liliane [1974], Statuettes égyptiennes - chaouabtis, ouchebtis, Paris: Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient, 1974.

• Ockinga, Boyo G. [1997], "The Armidale Shabtis of Mery-Re: Witnesses to Ancient Egyptian Funerary Beliefs", Museum of Antiquities Maurice Kelly Lecture 1, Armidale: University of New England, 1997. ISBN 1863894667

• Petrie, W. M. Flinders [1935], Shabtis: Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College, London, with a catalogue of figures from many other sources, London: British School of Egyptian Archaeology, University College, 1935.

• Poole, Federico [1998], "Slave or Double? A Reconsideration of the Conception of the Shabti in the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period", in Eyre, C.J. (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists. Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, [Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 82], Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters, 1998, pp.893-901. ISBN 9042900148

• Schneider, Hans D. [1977], Shabtis: An Introduction to the History of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes, with a Catalogue of the Collection of Shabtis in the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden, [Collections of the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden 2], 3 volumes, Leiden: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden, 1977.

• Stewart, Harry M. Stewart [1995], Egyptian Shabtis, [Shire Egyptology 23], Princes Risborough: Shire, 1995. ISBN 0747803013
  • [2000], "Note on an Enigmatic Shabti Form", JEA 86 (2000), pp.166-167.