Egyptian fragment of a shabti for a queen, Third Intermediate Period, late 21st - early 22nd Dynasty, c.980-930 BC
Faience
Height: 3.7cm
11590 IVP
£ 4,000.00
Fragment from the lower section of a shabti, moulded in an electric blue faience, three lines from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead picked out in black. The...
Fragment from the lower section of a shabti, moulded in an electric blue faience, three lines from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead picked out in black. The cartouche is incomplete but may be for Henut-tawy, a queen of the 21st Dynasty. Top and bottom edges broken roughly to reveal the light sand-coloured interior.
It has been suggested that Henut-tawy was the daughter of the Pharaoh Pinudjem II and his principle wife. Shabtis of 'the Divine Adoratrice Henut-tawy' are the only proof of existence of this royal lady, as her burial tomb is not known. However, it is thought that these shabtis come from the Ramesseum, the site of the 19th Dynasty mortuary temple of Ramesses II, where a Third Intermediate Period cemetery was found within the store chambers of the temple. Her other shabtis can be found in museums at Cairo, Berlin, Cambridge, Chicago, London, Florence, New York, Oxford, Vienna and Turin, among others in addition to some in private collections.
It has been suggested that Henut-tawy was the daughter of the Pharaoh Pinudjem II and his principle wife. Shabtis of 'the Divine Adoratrice Henut-tawy' are the only proof of existence of this royal lady, as her burial tomb is not known. However, it is thought that these shabtis come from the Ramesseum, the site of the 19th Dynasty mortuary temple of Ramesses II, where a Third Intermediate Period cemetery was found within the store chambers of the temple. Her other shabtis can be found in museums at Cairo, Berlin, Cambridge, Chicago, London, Florence, New York, Oxford, Vienna and Turin, among others in addition to some in private collections.
Provenance
The shabtis of Henut-tawy came onto the market in the 20th centuryBodo Bleß (1940-2022), Berlin, Germany; acquired c.1960s onwards
Literature
For an example of a shabti for Queen Henut-tawy, compare Glen Janes, Shabtis: A Private View (Paris, 2002), p.115, no.58.13
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