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Shabty of Seti I

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
The Egyptians manufactured funerary figurines, originally called shabties, as early as Dynasty 12 (1932–1759 B.C.E.). The earliest shabties are inscribed with either the deceased’s name (see nos. 1 and 2) or a simple form of Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. The rarity and high quality of the early shabties suggest that they were costly items produced for privileged persons.

Later, Chapter 6 began appearing more frequently on funerary figurines. The text mentions that they do agricultural tasks for the dead person: irrigating the fields, cultivating crops, and clearing away sand that blew in from the nearby desert.

As substitutes for the deceased, these figurines were sometimes given their own sarcophagi (see no. 6). To emphasize the agricultural function of the figurines, hoes and grain baskets were added to them (no. 8).

Wood (nos. 9–11), stone (nos. 12–14, 16), faience (no. 17), metal, and other materials were used beginning in Dynasty 18. By the end of the New Kingdom, statuettes for a single person were often mold-made by the hundreds and even thousands. Faience became the medium of choice, first in blue and later in light green or light blue (nos. 17, 20, 21).
MEDIUM Faience
DATES ca. 1290–1279 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 19
PERIOD New Kingdom
DIMENSIONS 5 5/8 x 1 3/4 in. (14.3 x 4.5 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 11.686
CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund
PROVENANCE TT320, Royal Cache, Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, Egypt, archaeological excavation not yet documented; by March 1911, acquired by an unknown dealer in Egypt; March 1911, purchased in Egypt from an unknown dealer by Colonel Robert B. Woodward for the Brooklyn Museum.
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CAPTION Shabty of Seti I, ca. 1290–1279 B.C.E. Faience, 5 5/8 x 1 3/4 in. (14.3 x 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 11.686. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.11.686_mummychamber.jpg)
IMAGE installation, Egypt Reborn: Mummy Chamber Installation (2011), CUR.11.686_mummychamber.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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