bACKGROUND INFORMATION

Shawabti of High Priest Paynozem
ca. 1000 BCE

A shawabti is a small mummiform statue found in all Egyptian tombs, from peasants to pharaohs. Shawabtis, which acted as a substitute for the body of the deceased, were inscribed with the name of the deceased and with part or all of a spell from the Book of the Dead, which reads: "O shabti, if the deceased is commanded to do any work in the realm of the dead: to prepare the fields, to irrigate the land or to convey sand from east to west; "Here I am" you shall say."

Shawabtis were first placed in tombs during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030 BCE - 1640 BCE). The earliest shawabtis were usually carefully crafted out of stone, each with its own coffin.

Read More

During later periods, the number of shawabti figures increased, with many being mass-produced in molds, resulting in less detail and precision. These shawabtis represented workers who would do agricultural work in the afterlife in place of the deceased. Also called shabtis or ushabtis, depending on the period, shawabtis were made of stone, faience (a sandy mixture of crushed quartz, natron, and pigment that was heated to fuse it together), wood, or molded mud.

Sources:

"Back in Time: Striking Poses." Ancient Egypt at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Ikram, Salima. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt. Great Britain: Longman, 2003.

"Mud Shabti Figures." British Museum Catalogue Entry for Object Number EA 8544

Close