Shabti figure, with its glaze decayed to a pale green-blue. The shabti bears a plain tripartite wig and a beard. Its arms are crossed on its chest holding a pick and a hoe, with a basket thrown over its left shoulder. Its feet stand on a square base, and the shabti has a dorsal pillar for stability. Ten horizontal bands of hieroglyphs are carved into the front and sides.

Inscriptions / Translations:  Inscribed

Bibliography:  On Shabtis, see:
H. D. Schneider, ‘Shabtis. An introduction to the History of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes with a Catalogue of the Collection of Shabtis in the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden’, 3 vols., Leiden 1977.

Notes:  See also, ECM 360 and 361

Shabti figures were intended to work on behalf of the soul of the deceased in the afterlife in order to allow the deceased to enjoy their afterlife without labouring in the fields. Those who could afford to do so were buried with sets of shabtis for every day of the year, plus overseers, which meant that shabtis were some of the most conveniently common and easily portable Egyptian antiquities for collectors to buy. Shabtis ECM 360, ECM 361, and ECM 362 have each been labelled with tags reading, 'Egypt' and a number, presumably corresponding to an inventory made when they were being packed for transport as part of a collection.