Shabti

A shabti is a model of a servant, buried with an ancient Egyptian in order to perform menial tasks in the Afterlife on behalf of the deceased. This wooden shabti dates from the New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty (around 1539 to 1295 BC).

The shabti is in the form of a mummy, and probably holds implements and bags on the left shoulder and perhaps water pots on the right. It has traces of gesso and pigment. The fragmentary inscription is indecipherable.

Wealthy people in ancient Egypt were buried with a range of objects to help them in the Afterlife. These included religious amulets, food and drink, furniture, games, clothes, jewels, and servants to do the work.

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