Padiusir ¹

Funerary servant of worker statuette in pale-blue faience. It displays a brownish coloration on the lower part, perhaps due to oxidation. It wears a plaine tripartite wig that leaves the ears visible and extends onto the chest. The face is finely modeled, with cosmetic lines around the eyes and carefully rendered details of the mouth, nose, eyebrows and chin. It has a braided beard. The crossed hands project from the mummy casing and hold a pick in the left hand and an adze in the right. This hand also grasps the rope that passes over the shoulder and secures the seed bag at the back, decorated with a braided pattern. The figure has a dorsal pillar and a pedestal. The inscription is arranged in a T-shaped layout framed by lines, with the text running from right to left and, in the vertical column, from top to bottom.This arrangement supports the proposed dating of the ushebti.

Henri Charles Loffet’s study² has shown that a homonymous individual, of the same filiation and likewise a prophet of the lioness godess Semenet, probably identical to the owner of the ushebti”under study, was also a prophet of T”he Mansion of Ptah, who resides in Neni-nesut”. Consequently, Padiusir was probably a priest attached to a sanctuary dedicated to the god Ptah at Heracleópolis, perhaps in the great temple of Herishef rebuilt by Ramesses II, and was also likely buried in one of the necropoleis of the region. The name of his mother, Setchairetbinet, means “May the evil eye depart” (Ranke PN I, 323, 1 & II, 389).
In the hieroglyphic inscription, the sign V2 (“sTA”), has been identified, following Loffet’s trancription in connection with the ushebti bearing Chapter VI of the Book of Dead inscription, although it may instead represent the hand sign (D46) , as commonly occurs on ushebtis of this individual with T-shaped inscriptions. The statuette studied here was acquired at auction³.