Shabti of Psamtek son of Sebarekhyt
56.21.99
Information
Mummiform shabti wearing a striated tripartite wig, and a plaited divine beard which is curled at the tip. The arms are crossed right over left on the chest, and the hands emerge from a shroud to hold a hoe in the right, and a pick in the left. The left hand also holds the twisted rope for a basket that is carried behind the left shoulder. The face is very finely worked, and with the mouth wearing the gentle smile typical for shabtis of this period. The figure is supported by a dorsal pillar, and stands upon a trapezoidal base. The shabti has nine horizontal bands of incised inscription. The owner is named as Psamtek, born to Seba–rekhyt, followed by Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead.
Translation of the inscription: O these shabtis, if one counts off the Osiris, the God’s Father, Psamtek, born to Seb–rekhyt, to do all the works to be done there in the realm of the dead – one implants obstacles there – as a man at his duties, ‘here I am,’ you shall say at any time to serve there, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the river banks, to ferry the sand of the west to the east and vice–versa; ‘here I am,’you shall say.
Transliteration of the inscription: i wSb.ty ipn ir ip.tw Wsir it-nTr psmTk ms n sbA-rxyt r ir(.t) kA.t nb(.t) ir.t n im m Xr.t-nTr iw.tw Hw sDb.w im m s r Xr.t.f m.k w(i) kA.tn r nw nb ir(.t) im r srwD sx.t r smH.y wDb.w r Xn.t Say n imn.tt r iAb.tt Ts pXr m.k w(i) k(A).tn, "O these shabtis, if one counts off the Osiris, the God’s Father, Psamtek, born to Seb–rekhyt, to do all the works to be done there in the realm of the dead – one implants obstacles there – as a man at his duties, ‘here I am,’ you shall say at any time to serve there, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the river banks, to ferry the sand of the west to the east and vice–versa; ‘here I am,’you shall say".
Ex collection of Sir J. Currie (no. 65) donated by D. H. Hanbury in 1941.