Djehutyemheb¹

Mummiform figure with definition only on its front, the back being roughly molded. The edges are untrimmed.

The mummy appears to lie on a type of bed or lid. The figure has well-defined main characteristics: a tripartite wig, the shape of the face (though not its facial features), crossed arms (right over left), closed hands with prominent thumbs. They seem to be grasping something undefined, but there is no trace of anything. The base of the feet is rounded.

Below the arms, two vertical lines frame the text with the name and title of the shabti’s owner.

The statuette was acquired at auction². It corresponds to a very peculiar type of shabti from the late New Kingdom (Dynasties XIX-XX). Similar examples of this type of statuette modeled in clay or terracotta can be found in various museums, such as those in Florence, Manchester, Vienna, or Hildesheim, to name a few³.

We have only found statuettes of the same individual in the Cairo Museum. Newberry collected six examples in his work, among which at least a pair wear the typical kilt of the living and carry agricultural tools in their hands (see b/w photograph). Newberry’s dating is incorrect⁴.

Currently, two examples are on display in the former Egyptian Museum in Cairo (snapshot). Their reference numbers differ from those listed in Newberry’s publication (current 7957 and 7958 versus the British Egyptologist’s 48134 and 48135).

We know nothing about the individual. He must have been an important courtier, as he held the titles of pure priest and scribe of the god in the temple of Amun⁵.