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Shawabty of King Taharqa
Nubian
Napatan Period, reign of Taharqa
690–664 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Nuri, Pyramid 1, A III 6
Medium/Technique
Gray serpentinite
Dimensions
Overall: 24.2 x 8.6 cm (9 1/2 x 3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number21.3050a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsTomb equipment – Shawabties and shawabty boxes
DescriptionThis is a shawabty belonging to King Taharqa. The figure wears the king's nemes headdress with uraeus and has a long beard. There are ten horizontal lines of incised unframed text on the front of body, it does not extend to the back of the figure. This mummiform shape does not have a back pillar or base. Here the hands are opposed and the arms are not crossed. The king holds the implements of rulership, the flail on the left and the crook on the right shoulder. There is a chip missing from the leg area of the figure. The object was broken in two pieces and is not mended. There is a footmark on the bottom of the foot which is number 2 in Dunham's typology for Taharqa, updated by Joyce Haynes (MFA, 2008).
The ancient Nubians included shawabtys in their tombs only in the Napatan Period, about 750–270 B.C. These funerary figurines are based on Egyptian shawabtys, but differ from them in many features of their iconography. For instance, the known Nubian examples are only from royal tombs. Also, they have unique texts, implements, poses and are known to have the largest number of shawabtys included in one tomb. Their function, it is assumed, was the same as that of the Egyptian shawabty, namely to magically animate in the Afterlife in order to act as a proxy for the deceased when called upon to tend to field labor or other tasks. This expressed purpose was sometimes written on the shawabty itself in the form of a "Shawabty Spell," of which versions of various lengths are known. Shorter shawabty inscriptions could also just identify the deceased by name and, when applicable, title(s). However, many shawabtys carry no text at all. The ideal number of such figurines to include in a tomb or burial seems to have varied during different time periods.
The ancient Nubians included shawabtys in their tombs only in the Napatan Period, about 750–270 B.C. These funerary figurines are based on Egyptian shawabtys, but differ from them in many features of their iconography. For instance, the known Nubian examples are only from royal tombs. Also, they have unique texts, implements, poses and are known to have the largest number of shawabtys included in one tomb. Their function, it is assumed, was the same as that of the Egyptian shawabty, namely to magically animate in the Afterlife in order to act as a proxy for the deceased when called upon to tend to field labor or other tasks. This expressed purpose was sometimes written on the shawabty itself in the form of a "Shawabty Spell," of which versions of various lengths are known. Shorter shawabty inscriptions could also just identify the deceased by name and, when applicable, title(s). However, many shawabtys carry no text at all. The ideal number of such figurines to include in a tomb or burial seems to have varied during different time periods.
ProvenanceFrom Nubia (Sudan) Nuri, Pyramid 1 (Tomb of Taharqa) A III 6. 1917: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan.