Bright blue faience shabti of Pinudjem I with black painted details. These details include the stripes of the wig, the eyes, and the agricultural implements (although there is no basket). A vertical column of hieroglyphs painted in black on the front read: 'Illuminating the Osiris, King (Pinudjem beloved of Amun)|, true of voice'.

A similar shabti figure of Pinudjem I (or possibly II), also found within the royal cache at Deir el-Bahri, is held by the British Museum (EA 30400): http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?searchText=30400&ILINK|34484,|assetId=98777001&objectId=118073&partId=1

Inscriptions / Translations:  'Illuminating the Osiris, King (Pinudjem beloved of Amun)|, true of voice'.

Bibliography:  For more information, see:
E. Mushett Cole 2016 'Some Significant Shabtis: How objects can illuminate a period of political and cultural change' in S. Boonstra (ed.) Objects Come to Life Virtual Exhibition, Birmingham Egyptology.

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.

Georganteli, E. and Bommas, M. (eds.) 2010. Sacred and Profane: Treasures of Ancient Egypt from the Myers Collection, Eton College and University of Birmingham. London. (Page 54, Entry No. 40).


Reeves, N. (ed.) 2008. Egyptian Art at Eton College and Durham University: Catalogue of a loan exhibition to Japan, 24 February-30 November 2008. With contributions from C. Barclay, T. Hardwick, S. Quirke, N. Reeves, J. Ruffle,
H. Schneider, and S. Spurr (Page 148, Entry No. 198).

For background on shabtis, see, for instance, J. H. Taylor, ‘Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt’, London 2001, 112-135.

Notes:  This mummiform shabti is made from faience with a blue glaze and the details marked out in black. This shabti comes from the royal cache in TT320 at Deir el-Bahri in Thebes and belongs to Pinudjem I, one of the first High Priest of Amun of the Twenty-First Dynasty. Like his predecessor HPA, Herihor, Pinudjem also adopted royal style, something clearly visible on this shabti with his name enclosed within a cartouche and the title 'king' before his name. Pinudjem's shabti conforms to 'Type A' with the painted lines to mark the striation of the wig, as with Tayuheret's, but unlike those of his son Masaharta A. Note that as this shabti was for a royal individual, it also has a small uraeus added to the front of the wig.

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