© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photographed by Peter Harholdt.

© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Shabti of Padiamenopet

Possible OriginEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period, Dynasty 25, Reign of Taharqa - Reign of Tanwetamani

Date690-655 BCE

MediumGlazed steatite

Credit LineMohamed Farid Khamis/Oriental Weavers Fund

Dimensions6 5/16 in. (16 cm)

Object number2015.013.004

Label TextThis shabti is an excellent example of the figures belonging to Padiamenopet, a chief lector priest serving under either Taharqa or Tanwetamani, who constructed the largest private tomb in Thebes (TT33). His large, distinctive shabtis are found in collections around the world, though usually in fragmentary state, as is the case here.

Padiamenopet possessed shabtis of three sizes and materials. The largest figures were carved from various unglazed stones, the medium-sized figures were made of glazed stone, and the smallest were formed of faience. This shabti belongs to the second group, being fashioned of green-glazed steatite.

The figure is inscribed with a variant of the shabti spell created during the reign of Taharqa and reads as follows:

The Illuminated One, the Osiris chief lector priest Padiamenopet, justified of voice, (he) says: O (this) shabti (if one counts off...) the Osiris lector priest [Padi]amenopet, justified of voice, (in order to do any work which is done therein the necropolis; indeed one implants an obstacle there as a man at his duty: " here I am," you shall say; count yourselves off at the time daily to be served) therein, to make arable a field, to irrigate (the riparian lands), to transport by boat the sand of the east to the west and vice versa; "here I am," you shall say if one seeks the Osiris the chief lector priest Padiamenopet, justified of voice, behold ("I will) do [it," you] shall say therein the necropolis, for I am you.

The piece had been repaired with a fill connecting the two parts. At first glance, the repair seemed satisfactory, yet closer examination revealed that the bottom portion of the figure had been reattached facing the wrong direction.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, October 1998 - February 2000
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - March 30, 2015
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, August 3, 2015 - Present
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 30.

ProvenanceWith Sotheby's New York, June 13, 1996, lot 192 (unsold). Ex private collection, United States, purchased from Sotheby's post auction. Purchased by MCCM from Sue McGovern-Huffman [Sands of Time Ancient Art], Washington DC.

Status

On view

Collections