Shabti of the High Priest of Amun, Painedjem II

This small figurine is a shabti from the burial of a High Priest of Amun (HPA) named Painedjem (II) who lived during the 21st Dynasty. During this era, control of Egypt was divided between kings in the north, who ruled from Tanis in the Nile Delta, and the High Priests of the great state god Amun, ruling from Thebes in the south. Painedjem II was the son of a previous High Priest of Amun, Menkheperre, and gained the title for himself following the short reign of his brother, Smendes (Nesbanebdjed) II.

The funerary figurines known as shabtis can be seen as avatars of the deceased that could be called upon to perform manual labor in the afterlife. By the 21st Dynasty, as many as 401 shabtis (a worker for each day of the year plus an overseer for each 10-day week) could be included with burials. Worker shabtis can be identified by the farming tools they hold, whereas overseer shabtis typically wear a kilt and carry a whip. This example wears a three-part wig with a headband known as a seshed added over the top and tied in back in a knot. The arms are crossed on the chest and each hand holds a hoe. A basket to hold grain is suspended over the back of the figure. On the front of the body are seven lines of inscription giving the owner's name and principal title, followed by Spell 6 from the Book of the Dead, promising to carry out work on Painedjem's behalf.

This shabti was presumably discovered in the “First Royal Cache” in Western Thebes, in a valley south of the Temple of Hatshepsut. This hidden tomb contained the burials of 21st Dynasty dignitaries like Painedjem II and individuals from several generations of his family, along with the re-burials of a number of kings and queens of the New Kingdom (about 1550 to 1100 BCE). An inscription in the tomb itself gives the date of his burial as Year 10, Day 4 of the season of Peret (assumed to be during the reign of the Tanite king Siamun).

Painedjem II was the son of the HPA Menkheperre and the grandson of Painedjem I. We know of two principal wives of Painedjem II: Nesikhonsu and his sister and wife Isetemkheb. Both of these women held the title First Great Chief of the Principal Musical Troupe of Amun, indicating they were the highest-ranking members of the female clergy of this god in their lifetimes. Painedjem II had a number of children, including Nesitanebetisheru and likely also a "Divine Adoratrice" named Henettawy. His son Psusennes (Pasebakhanut) II became HPA after him; some scholars believe that this Psusennes is also to be identified with the last Tanite king of Dynasty 21, Psusennes III.

For shabtis of Painedjem II at The Met, see 10.130.1055a, 10.130.1055b, 10.130.1055c, 30.8.190, and O.C.848.