ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Shabti of Sety I

Place FoundThebes, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom, Dynasty 19, reign of Sety I

Date1290-1279 BCE

MediumWood, coating or varnish

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions7 11/16 x 2 5/16 x 1 5/8 in., 100 g (19.6 x 5.8 x 4.1 cm, 3 1/2 oz.)

Object number2018.010.609

Label TextThe shabti belonged to King Sety I, the second king of Dynasty 19. When Giovanni Belzoni excavated KV 17 in 1815, he discovered numerous shabtis of Sety I strewn across the floor. Their exact number was not recorded. The king’s wooden shabtis were coated with resin, known as “black varnish,” symbolizing the god Osiris and life after death. Reports of resin-covered wooden shabtis being used as torches to illuminate the tomb make it likely that the actual number of shabtis may never be known.

This wooden shabti shows the king wearing a lappet wig. His clenched fists extend outside the mummy wrappings, but nothing is visible within the king’s grasp. Stretching from the elbows to the ankles of the mummiform figure is an inscription that includes Sety’s prenomen, Menmaatre, and nomen, Sety Meryenptah (“beloved of Ptah”) in cartouches. It is then followed with a condensed version of the shabti spell.

Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 81.

ProvenanceEx coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California, possibly purchased from Jean-François Mignon, Aix-en Provence, France.

Status

Not on view

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