Shabti of Anuket

A mid torso fragment of a mummiform shabti. Upper most on the front are the lower ends of the lappets of a tripartite wig that has traces of black paint, and with curls detailed in relief. Between the lappets are four strands that are supporting three rows of cylindrical beads of a wesekh–collar modelled in relief. The arms are crossed above the waist, and the hands, that are quite widely spaced, emerge from a shroud to hold a pair of hoes modelled in relief. There are traces of yellow paint around the right hand. The hands also hold the ropes for two large and well detailed baskets that are carried behind the shoulders. The ropes extend below the baskets at the side to form the framing lines for the upper two rows of a four line incised inscription on the remaining torso. Like the framing lines, the inscription is filled with red pigment although only traces remain. The owner of the shabti is named as Anuket. The space immediately before it in the inscription appears not to have been completed for some reason. The dividing lines are clearly incised, and there is no obvious sign of hieroglyphs being worn or removed. This may have been left to add a title for Anuket, which, for some reason, was never added. The remaining text is a version of Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. Anuket was a goddess who was the personification of the river Nile, particularly in the area around Elephantine in Upper Egypt. She was also associated with Esna – a small temple was dedicated to her, with Satet and Khnum. Transliteration and translation of the inscription: sHD Wsir ...anq.t mAa.t-xrw Dd.s i SAb.ty ip.t(w) ir.t ip.t(w) iry Hsb r ir.t kA.t nb.t kA Xr.t-nTr r Xn.t say imn.tt ..., "The illuminated one, the Osiris, … Anuket, justified, she speaks: O, these shabtis, if you are counted, if you are reckoned to do all works there in the realm of the dead – to transport by boat the sand of the west …".