Shabti of Painedjem I

This small figurine is a shabti from the burial of Painedjem I, who lived during the early 21st Dynasty. During this era (about 1100–900 B.C.), control of Egypt was divided between the 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 I was first High Priest of Amun and then became a king in the south as well, ruling alongside the Tanite king, Smendes (Egyptian Nesbanebjed) I.

In the ancient Egyptian belief system, shabtis were avatars of the deceased who could be called upon to perform manual labor on his or her behalf in the afterlife. By Painedjem’s time, as many as 401 shabtis (one for each day of the year plus an overseer for each 10-day week) were buried in the tombs of important people. They were often placed in wooden boxes near the owner’s coffins.

This shabti was likely discovered in the “First Royal Cache” in Western Thebes near the Temple of Hatshepsut. This hidden tomb contained the burials of a number of kings and queens of the New Kingdom (about 1550 to 1100 B.C.), along with the burials of Painedjem I and members of his immediate family, spanning several generations.

Painedjem I’s chief wife, the Adoratrice of Hathor Henettawy, was among the individuals buried in the Royal Cache. Her burial also included several shabtis that are now in the Met’s collection. Together they had several children, notably a daughter known as Maatkare A, who held the title of God’s Wife of Amun, and a son, Psusennes (Egyptian Pasebakhaenniut) I who also became king, ruling from the North at Tanis. A few generations later, Painedjem II also became High Priest of Amun at Thebes and was buried in the Royal Cache with his shabtis.

For more shabtis of Painedjem I at The Met, see 26.7.981 and 17.194.2407.