Shabti of Huy

M13585

Information

Mummiform shabti wearing a voluminous plain tripartite wig that is worn high on the head to leave a large area of the forehead showing. The lappets of the wig are long. The arms are crossed right over left on the chest, and the hands hold a pair of hoes. The one in the left hand is of the broad–bladed type, while the one in the right is narrow–bladed. A broad, trapezoidal– shaped basket is carried on the back. It is supported from cords that are also held by the hands. The basket has horizontal and vertical line detail. Although the nose and mouth are mostly worn away, it is evident that the face was finely carved. The eyes are quite large, slanted and almond–shaped. A pair of large, well–modelled ears flank the face. The ear lobes have small indentations to suggest that they are pierced. In profile, the posterior of the shabti is well–defined. The front of the ankles and feet are missing. The body of the figure has six horizontal bands of an incised inscription, with an additional vertical column on the back. The owner is named as Huy, his name being followed by Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. Transliteration and translation of the inscription: sHD Wsir sS nsw.t wDH.w n nb-tA.wy Hwy mAa-xrw dd.f i SAbty ipn ir ip.tw iry [Hsb].tw Wsir Hwy anx w (?) m kA.t nb.t ir.t (im) m Xr.t-nTr r Xr.wt.f Hw n.f sDb.w im r srwD n sxt wDb.w A Xnt Say n iAb.tt n imn.tt ip.(t)w ir ? r ir[.t] nw nb ink mk kA.k ?, "The illuminated one, the Osiris, the Royal Scribe of the offering table of the Lord of the Two Lands, Huy, justified, he speaks: O, these shabtis if you are counted, if you are reckoned, the Osiris,Huy, the living one (?), [to do] all the work that is to be done in the realm of the dead – as a man at his duties – now indeed obstacles are implanted there for him, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the river banks, to transport by boat the sand of the east to the west, if you are counted ??, to pass any time, ‘Here I am’ you shall say".