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Lot Essay
This shabti is inscribed with 9 bands of fine hieroglyphs, comprising a form of the standard text from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, reading: "Recitation: Instructions of the Osiris Neferibre-Saneith born of Shepenbastet, Justified. He says: O ye (lit. “these”) Shabtys, if the Osiris Neferibre-Saneith born of Shepenbastet is counted in order to do any work which is done there in the Necropolis – because/since an obstacle is set up there, as one who is summoned according to his requirements, Behold, here I am! shall say ye, that ye may be counted at any time, which is done there in the Necropolis, in order to cultivate the fields, in order to irrigate the riverbanks, in order to convey sand of the West to the East and vice-versa, Here I am! shall ye say.”
The name Neferibre-Saneith is basilophorous, incorporating the name of a king, here Neferibre, the prenomen of Psamtek II of the 26th Dynasty. In all likelihood, the deceased was born during the reign of that king (595-589 B.C.).
The tomb of Neferibresaneith was discovered in 1929 at Saqqara, south of the funerary complex of King Ouserkaf (see E. Drioton and J.-Ph. Lauer, "Les tombes jumelées de Neferibrê-sa-neith et Ouahibrê-Men", Annales de Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, vol. 51, pp. 469-490, and B. Porter and R. L. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, vol. III.2, p. 587, a). Along with the sarcophagus and three canopic jars, a total of 336 shabtis were discovered and removed, as recorded by J.-F. and L. Aubert: "a large number of these figurines were dispersed by the Service des Antiquités and found their way to public...and private collections" (Statuettes Egyptiennes, Chaouabtis, Ouchebtis, p. 230). This dispersal was completed by 1970, with the tomb mostly emptied by 1940.
Repeatedly lauded as being amongst the most beautiful shabtis of the Late Period, the Neferibresaneith's shabtis are praised by Aubert and Aubert for their "haughty countenance, energetic and refined," and their achievement of a "fine silhouette....with subtle contours." Other shabtis for Neferibresaneith are held at the Albany Institute of History and Art, New York (acc. no. 2013.1.4), the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta (acc. no. 1998.11), and the National Museums of World Culture, Stockholm (inv. no. MME 1974:156).
The name Neferibre-Saneith is basilophorous, incorporating the name of a king, here Neferibre, the prenomen of Psamtek II of the 26th Dynasty. In all likelihood, the deceased was born during the reign of that king (595-589 B.C.).
The tomb of Neferibresaneith was discovered in 1929 at Saqqara, south of the funerary complex of King Ouserkaf (see E. Drioton and J.-Ph. Lauer, "Les tombes jumelées de Neferibrê-sa-neith et Ouahibrê-Men", Annales de Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, vol. 51, pp. 469-490, and B. Porter and R. L. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, vol. III.2, p. 587, a). Along with the sarcophagus and three canopic jars, a total of 336 shabtis were discovered and removed, as recorded by J.-F. and L. Aubert: "a large number of these figurines were dispersed by the Service des Antiquités and found their way to public...and private collections" (Statuettes Egyptiennes, Chaouabtis, Ouchebtis, p. 230). This dispersal was completed by 1970, with the tomb mostly emptied by 1940.
Repeatedly lauded as being amongst the most beautiful shabtis of the Late Period, the Neferibresaneith's shabtis are praised by Aubert and Aubert for their "haughty countenance, energetic and refined," and their achievement of a "fine silhouette....with subtle contours." Other shabtis for Neferibresaneith are held at the Albany Institute of History and Art, New York (acc. no. 2013.1.4), the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta (acc. no. 1998.11), and the National Museums of World Culture, Stockholm (inv. no. MME 1974:156).