Shabti Box and Shabtis of Gautsoshen

Third Intermediate Period
ca. 1000–945 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 126
The low square box with two flat lids is made of thin boards of wood, white-washed on the outside. The interior is divided into two sections, and each lid is fastened by a tenon and two pegs. Designed to hold shabtis, small figures meant to work on behalf of the deceased in the afterlife, it is different in shape from the other shabti boxes found in the same tomb (see for example 25.3.20.1a–c).

Along with fragments of a second example, this box was found near a deposit of 374 unusual wood shabtis inscribed for Gautsoshen (see 25.3.22a–f), and so is assumed to belong with this burial.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shabti Box and Shabtis of Gautsoshen
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 21
  • Date: ca. 1000–945 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb MMA 60, Pit, Burial of Gautsoshen (P4), MMA excavations, 1923–24
  • Medium: Faience, wood, clay seal
  • Dimensions: Box: 40 × 39 × 20.5 cm (15 3/4 × 15 3/8 × 8 1/16 in.); Shabtis: 7 to 17 cm (2 3/4 to 6 11/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1925
  • Object Number: 25.3.22
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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