Hi Antonio,
Your
shabti seems to be real and probably dates to the Third Intermediate Period (TIP). The
inscription reads " A gift which the
king gives to the
Osiris (the deceased) followed by a personal name. There is a chance the eye is
part of the name, too. Unfortunately, the next hieroglyph is faded, so I could not check Ranke. The
inscription begins with
part of an old, well know prayer called the "Hotep de nesut". The third hieroglyph consisting of a horizontal line with a "diamond" centered, is the "Hotep"; the triangle is the "de" and translates "gives" and the
plant is the "Nesut".
Many of these ushabti have a bag or sack painted on their backs. Does yours have one, too?
For TIP
shabti with the "Hotep de nesut"
inscription and a personal name see:
1. Chappaz, Jean-Luc. Les Figurines Funeraires Egyptiennes du
Musee D'Art et D'Histoire et de Quelques
Collections Privees. Aegyptiaca Helvetica 10, Geneve, 1982: pages 44 and 45; Numbers 025 to 027.
2.
Petrie, W.M.F.
Shabtis. British School of Archaeology in
Egypt.
London, 1935 (reprinted by Aris & Phillips/Malter, Warminster & Encino, 1974): Plate XI, Numbers 469 to 472.
For Second Intermediate Period ushabti (they look different from yours) with the same prayer, see
Petrie, W.M.F.
Shabtis. British School of Archaeology in
Egypt.
London, 1935 (reprinted by Aris & Phillips/Malter, Warminster & Encino, 1974) Plates VI and
VII.
Ushabti with the "Hotep de nesut" are also listed in
Newberry, Percy E. Funerary Statuetts and Model Sarcophagi,
Catalogue General
des Antiquites Egyptiennes du
Musee du Caire, Troisieme Fascicules. Cairo, 1957. I only have the third fascicule, indices and plates, and some are in it, so I expect the first two volumes to have more.
I
hope this helps.
Russ
