Cleveland Museum of Art
Shawabty of Ditamenpaankh
- Date
- 715–656 BCE
- Medium
- terracotta
- Culture
- Egypt, Late period (715–332 BCE), Dynasty 25
- Department
- Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 94270
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
High demand for shawabtys in the Late Period (when as many as 400 or more shawabtys were placed in a tomb), gave rise to a specialized container for storing them. This shawabty box was probably one of a pair originally made for the lady Ditamenpaankh. The single-masted boat on the lid may refer to the pilgrimage of the deceased to the holy city of Abydos, the cult city of Osiris, king of the dead. The sides are inscribed with the traditional shawabty spell charging the funerary servants with their duties. The shawabtys inside are crude, mass-produced examples that were cast in an open mold. Made of terracotta, their blue paint imitates more costly shawabtys made of faience.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
- Provenance
- Probably Thebes. Purchased in Egypt by Lucy Olcott Perkins through Henry W. Kent.
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