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Head from a Shabty of King Akhenaten

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The four stone shabties made for King Akhenaten illustrate the royal ideal in the Eighteenth Dynasty. They are a representative sample of the materials used to create hundreds of shabties for this king. Each stone type symbolizes a divinity related to the afterlife. For example, the red shabty associates Akhenaten with Re, the sun god, while the black granite one links him to Osiris, represented as the fertile soil of Egypt.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Place Made: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period
    DIMENSIONS 2 13/16 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (7.2 x 7 x 7 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 33.52
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Head of Akhenaten probably from an ushabti but possibly from a statuette. Royal uraeus on forehead. Condition: The lower part of the chin, the right side of the headdress and the neck and back of the headdress are missing. Nose and uraeus chipped.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Head from a Shabty of King Akhenaten, ca. 1352-1336 B.C.E. Limestone, 2 13/16 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (7.2 x 7 x 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 33.52. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.52_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 33.52_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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