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Shawabty fragments
Nubian
Napatan Period
750–270 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Meroe, Beg. S 42 under stones of surface debris
Medium/Technique
Faience
Dimensions
Largest: 4.7 x 3.3 cm (1 7/8 x 1 5/16 in.)
Smallest: 0.5 x 0.4 cm (3/16 x 3/16 in.)
Smallest: 0.5 x 0.4 cm (3/16 x 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number21-2-125
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsTomb equipment – Shawabties and shawabty boxes
DescriptionThis is a tray of 42 fragments of shawabtys. Included are a head fragment and a foot fragment. There are traces of a worn text in black including framed horizontal registers of text encircling the body and a vertical register up the front. There is no back pillar or base. The Object Register says that these fragments are from 2 shawabtys.
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, and 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, and 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), Meroe Beg. S 42 (tomb of an unidentified queen) under stones of surface debris. 1921: 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.