Pahermer¹

Mummiform statuette, made of faience with details in black paint. Tripartite striated wig. Well-defined facial features. Modeled nose, mouth and ears. Eyebrows, eye contour and pupils, painted in black. The arms are crossed, the left over the right. Visible hands with closed fists, holding two hoes, the handles of which, painted in black, protrude below the right hand in one case and in the center of the left fist in the other (craftsman’s mistake). The back has more bluish tones. Beneath the wig, a sack of crossed fibers is drawn, held by two black lines that represent the fastening cords.

Below the arms and framed in two black lines appears the text, which is read from right to left. The base of the statuette has some chipping that slightly affects the last two signs of the inscription.

This statuette was acquired at auction². The person is known to have been buried in Abydos, in cemetery D, tomb 14 B, in what must have been a burial reused on several occasions since in addition to the shabtis of Pahermer, Arthur Mace, the Egyptologist in charge of his excavation, found those of other people.

According to Randall & Mace’s publication of the excavation, tomb 14B, originally dated to the 19th Dynasty and later reused, was actually a mastaba whose owner was the priest of Amun, named Pa-ab-mer (our Pahermer)³. Among the pieces found was a djed pillar whose inscription shows the full titles of Pahermer⁴, Hm-nTr tpy Imn imy-r pr HrD, that is: High priest of Amun and supervisor of the treasury.