Faience Shabti of Tjanehebu, Overseer of the Royal Ships

Culture: Egyptian

Period: 26th dynasty, Reign of Amasis II, 570-526 B.C.

Material: Faience

Dimensions: 18.6 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1326

Provenance: German private collection since 1970.

Condition: One very minor chip on the basis, otherwise intact.

Description: Shabti of green glazed faience originating from Tjanehebu’s tomb. The mummiform figure with a tripartite wig, false beard, back pillar and crossed arms in front of the chest. The shabti holding an adze and a hoe, the seed basket hangs over the left shoulder. The inscription in eleven lines mentions Tjanehebu as the owner, the overseer of the royal ships, son to Tanefretiyti. The translation reads: "The Illuminated One, the Osiris, the Overseer of the Royal Ships, Tjanehebu, born to Tanefretiyti, he speaks: O, these shabtis, if one counts off the Osiris, the Overseer of the Royal Ships, Tjanehebu, justified, to do every work which is done there in the necropolis – now indeed obstacles are implanted there – as a man at his duties. “Here I am”, you shall say, when you are counted off at any time to serve there, to cultivate a field, to irrigate the shores, to transport by boat the sand of the West to the East and vice versa. “Here I am”, you shall say.” Tjanehebu’s tomb was excavated by the Italian Egyptologist Alessandro Barsanti in 1900 south of the Pyramid of Unas in Saqqara. The excavated shabtis were sold around the world – see for reference the example in the British Museum with the registration number 1901,0311.16. Mounted.