Shabti of Psamtek son of Amenirdas

Inscriptions

Text: Name, filiation, Book of the Dead chapter VI excerpt; perhaps part of title, “…of Amun”

Label

Shabti figures (also sometimes spelled ushabti, which means “answerer”) are an essential aspect of Ancient Egyptian funerary practice. These small human figures were intended to serve as servants or working substitutes for the deceased in the afterlife. The lower body takes the form of a mummy, while the hands often hold implements that will help in the afterlife; this example holds a hoe in each hand. Many burials held multiple, even hundreds, of shabti that could range in size from an inch to more than a foot tall. Shabti usually bore the name of the deceased so they would serve the proper person in the afterlife.

From the 2025 exhibition Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

ANTH 12.5, Death and the Afterlife in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Virginia Herrmann, Winter 2014

ANTH 12.5, Death and the Afterlife in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Virginia Herrmann, Winter 2014

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Spring 2015

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Spring 2015

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Fall 2019

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Fall 2019

Art History 10.03, Middle Eastern Studies 16.42, Art in Egypt, Steven Kangas, Spring 2024

Art History 10.03, Middle Eastern Studies 16.42, Art in Egypt, Steven Kangas, Spring 2024

History 10.02, Archival Research, Julia Rabig, Summer 2025

Anthropology 31.01, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2025

Theater 15.01, Theatre & Society I, Samantha Lazar, Fall 2025

Exhibition History

Egyptian Antiquities at Dartmouth, Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 12, 2011-August 13, 2012.

Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 7, 2025 - Ongoing

The Age of the Marvelous, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 21-November 24, 1991; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, January 25-March 22, 1992; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, May 24-August 25, 1992; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, October 6, 1992-January 3, 1993, naturalia no. n154.

Provenance

Scot-Skirving collection; given to Museum and Art Gallery Reading, England, 1935; sold to present collection, 1939.

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Subjects