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Shabty of the Princess Nesi-Khonsu

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Shabties were included in tombs to perform agricultural work in place of the deceased in the afterlife. Many of them are inscribed with Chapter 6 of The Book of the Dead, which says they will dig irrigation ditches, cultivate crops, and carry sand. Others only bear the name and title of the owner. The earlier examples included here are inscribed in ink while in the later examples the text is part of the mold, which clearly saved labor. Shabties and scarabs, beetle-shaped amulets associated with rebirth and the sun god, are the most common Egyptian antiquities to survive to modern times.
MEDIUM Faience
DATES ca. 1075–945 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 21
PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
DIMENSIONS 6 1/2 x 2 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (16.5 x 6 x 3.8 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 16.185
CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Dark blue faience ushabti of the Princess Nes-Khons. Five lines of inscription around lower part of body. Grasps moulded flail in each hand. Condition: Good, glaze worn in spots; some incrustation.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Shabty of the Princess Nesi-Khonsu, ca. 1075–945 B.C.E. Faience, 6 1/2 x 2 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (16.5 x 6 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.185. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.185_front_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE front, 16.185_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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