Shabti

Skip to main content
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by Bryan Edwards. For educational purposes only.
Datec. 1070-945 B.C.E.
MediumFaience with pigment
DimensionsOverall: 4 3/4 × 1 5/8 in. (12.1 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of William C. Winslow, Class of 1862
Object number1943.75
Not on view
DescriptionAs conceived by Ancient Egyptians, the afterlife was not much different from life on earth, although one never had to worry about illness or death. A highly valued facet of Egyptian life–and therefore afterlife–was labor. In the afterlife, this meant that everyone was expected to toil in fields of reeds called Aaru for Osiris, the god of death. Although in the predynastic and early dynastic eras, lasting from around 5500 to 2700 BCE, the pharaoh’s slaves and servants were sacrificed following his death so that they could take the pharaoh's place in the Aaru, this cruel practice seems to have been relatively unpopular and consequently faded away. In its place, the Book of the Dead provided a spell for calling forth shabtis–mummiform figurines with painted or carved symbols and features–to take one’s place in the Aaru. The earliest shabtis were unclothed and made of wax or wood; later, they were made of clay and faience and were clothed in garments tailored to specific agricultural tasks (for example, some had satchels to collect the harvest, while others had sickles and hoes). While the poorest of Ancient Egyptians could not afford to be buried with any shabti figures, most tombs contain at least a few shabtis, although usually of poorer quality than those that might be found in a pharaoh's tomb; for those who could afford it, a single tomb could hold over 400 shabti (written Spring 2018 by Christina Naston, Class of 2020). Catalogue card from 1960s: "Faience ushabti. Egyptian, XXIst Dyn. Gift of: W.C. Winslow '62. Granular white fabric with pink core; olive green glaze; purplish-black paint. Front and back moulded. Eyebrows, eyes, fillet on wig, satchel, hoe and mattock painted. Hands modelled, meeting in center. Painted columnar inscription."

Additional Details

Provenance by 1943: Hamilton College, by gift of William C. Winslow;
date unknown: William C. Winslow.
Markings None noted.
Signature None noted.
Inscribed Columnar inscription illegible (broken).
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.81
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1070-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Terracotta
Object number: 1943.79
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.82
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.83
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.91
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1070-945 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.30
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1070-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.85a
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.88b
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1070-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.89
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience with pigment
Object number: 1943.88c
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti Overseer
Date: c. 1292-653 B.C.E.
Medium: Granular white fabric with pigment
Object number: 1943.125
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Shabti
Date: c. 1295-656 B.C.E.
Medium: Faience
Object number: 1943.86b