Shabti of Iset-em-khebit

Mummiform shabti wearing a plain tripartite wig painted black. The arms are crossed on the chest, and the hands are painted red. No implements are evident being carried in the hands. A large basket is painted in red on the back of the shabti. The face is very crudely modelled. There are faint traces of the eyes and brows being added in black. A vertical panel painted in yellow on the front of the figure has traces of a black inscription. Museum records say this is a shabti for Iset–em–Khebit. The shabti is from the excavations undertaken by Arthur Mace at Abydos, North Cemeteries, Cemetery D in 1899–1900. The most likely tomb from which it originated is number 37. This tomb is recorded as containing ‘pottery ushabtis’ for ‘Ast– m–kheb.’ However, tomb 29D also contained ‘several unbaked pottery ushabtis of Ast–m–kheb,’ but perhaps the deciding element is the fact that D37 also contained shabti jars, mistakenly recorded as ‘painted pottery canopic vases.’ Shabtis like the Liverpool example for Iset–em–Khebit were probably originally placed in such jars. This can be noticed in shabtis of identical iconography that were found during the excavations of Ayrton, Currelly and Weigall, their findings being published in 1904. These are noted as being found within shabti jars. Transliteration and translation of the inscription: Wsir [As.t-m]-Ax-bi.t, "The Osiris, [Iset–em]–Khebit". Tomb D.29.B Accession register records the owner as Ast-en-kheb', daughter of Shab-a-ka. Pottery shabti painted pottery with black red and yellow. Inscribed in a column on the front.