SUDAN, NAPATAN PERIOD, CIRCA 643-623 B.C.

The Kushite pharaoh Senkamenisken was the grandson of Taharqa, the most renowned pharaoh of Dynasty XXV. He ruled a greatly reduced Nubian Kingdom following the Assyrian invasion of Egypt to the north. Like his grandfather, Senkamenisken commissioned a number of shabtis for his Pyramid tomb 3 at Nuri, in fact, more than any previous Nubian or Egyptian king. The 410 shabti figurines of Senkamanisken carved in serpentine to which this example belongs form a distinctive group among the total of 1,277 examples placed in his pyramid tomb at Nuri, excavated by G. A. Reisner in February 1917, see D. Dunham, The Royal Cemeteries of Kush, vol. II: Nuri, Boston, 1955, pl. CXL for a typology of Senkamenisken shabtis. Originally arranged in rows against the walls of the tomb, some examples bear the royal crook and flail, while one holds a pair of hoes in its hands. The distinctive Nubian double uraeus atop the nemes headdress distinguishes this version from Egyptian prototypes, while the full cheeks, buttonhole eyes, and straight smile reflect the portraiture of this ruler. Other types of shabti in faience from his tomb lack royal iconography, and are almost indistinguishable from non-royal examples. The inscription provides the titulary of the king within the context of the shabti spell, derived from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead.