Shabti of Nesbanebdjed

Late Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130

This shabti comes from a tomb discovered in 1902 at the site of the ancient city of Mendes (Tell el-Rub’a), the capital of Egypt for a short time during the Late Period. One of the two chambers of the tomb was almost completely empty, with only a few fragments of gold leaf left behind. In the second chamber were over 360 complete shabtis, plus a number of fragments. Most were inscribed, like this one, for the priest Nesbanebdjed. Of these shabtis, 322 had the type of T-shaped inscription seen here (see also 10.130.1044a). About 100 of Nesbanebdjed’s shabtis remained in Egypt; many more can be found in museum and private collections around the world.

Nesbanebdjed’s priestly titles associate him with the cult of the ram-god Banebdjed, who was part of the Mendesian triad with the goddess Hatmehyt and the child god Harpocrates.

Shabti of Nesbanebdjed, Faience

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