Shabti of Sherinefer

Inscribed for a man named Sherinefer, this funerary figure, known as a shabti, represents the deceased in festival dress. Sherinefer wears a sheer tunic with elbow-length sleeves, an ankle-length pleated kilt with a starched front panel and a fringed waistband, and a two-tiered wig, elaborately curled and braided. On his ears are large round earrings. Sherinefer crosses his wrists over his chest and holds agricultural tools in his hands. A grain basket is slung over one shoulder.

An inscription begins on the front of the kilt and continues around the sides and back; this reads: "The illuminated one, Osiris Sherinefer, says: "O you shabti, if Osiris Sherinefer is allotted to do any work that is done in the necropolis, to cultivate fields, to irrigate canal banks, to transport sand (from east to west, 'Here am I,' you shall say)." Part of Spell 6 from a collection of texts known colloquially as the Book of the Dead, this guarantees that the shabti figure will work on Sherinefer’s behalf in the afterlife, which in turn will help to provide him with food for eternity.