RAFFMA, EG.03.003.2004 ca. 640-620 BCE Steatite 19.8 cm long / 6.8 cm wide / 4.7 cm thick Nuri. Harer 1983. Gift in 2004.
This is an Ancient Egyptian magical funerary statue called a shabti or ushabti. Its purpose was to answer to any call its owner might receive to provide tax labor in the afterlife. It was found in the royal burial of king Senkamenisken, who ruled over the Nubian Kingdom of Napata. In 1916-18, Georges Andrew Reisner excavated his pyramid (No. 3) among other royal tombs at the site of Nuri. This tomb had the most ushabtis at Nuri, 1277, of which 410 were made of serpentine and 867 of faience. It is an example of Dows Dunham’s Type A of Senkamenisken’s ushabtis. The inscribed text is a variant of Hans Schneider’s Type IIIIA of the “Shabti Formula.” This shabti among others found in royal burials are an interesting illustration that even Ancient Egyptian and Nubian kings feared having to do hard work in the afterlife.
https://www.csusb.edu/raffma/art/detail?objectId=1386132&size=0
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