Egypt, 26th dynasty or shortly thereafter. A large composite ushabti, made for the Overseer of the Treasury Psamtek, whose good name is Iahmes, the son of Bastetiiridies. Psamtek is holding pick and hoe in his crossed hands and is carrying a small seed back over his left shoulder. His face, with a broad nose that is typical for all the shabtis of this important man, has a friendly expression. His tripartite wig and plaited beard are rendered with great detail. With back pillar and plinth. Hermann Schlögl has suggested (on the basis of the shape of the face) that this shabti may come from middle Egypt. The ushabti has eight lines of hieroglyphs, containing spell 6 from the Book of the Dead, the so-called shabti-spell. "Oh, these shabtis, if one counts off the Osiris, the Overseer of the Treasury Psamtek, whose good name is Iahmes, justified, born to Bastetiiridies, to do any work which is done there in the god's land - indeed, an obstacle is implanted therewith - as a man at his duties: "Here I am", you shall say; you are counted off at any time of serving there, to make arable the field, to irrigate the riparian land, to transport by boat the sand of the West to the East: "Here I am", you shall say." 6-7/8"H (17.5 cm), intact, with some staining and discoloration as visible on the photographs.
ProvenanceEx-private UK collection, acquired in the early 1970s, ex-Jonathan Friedman collection.
26th dynasty
Material Faience
Dimensions 6-7/8"H (17.5 cm)
Condition Intact
Antiquities Ancient Egyptian
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