TWO HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED SHABTIS OF HEKAEMSAF

IN THE WORLD ARTS MUSEUM, ROTTERDAM (THE NETHERLANDS)

Jurgen E. van Oostenrijk

Graduate student at Leiden University

For more than 30 years not much research on non-royal shabtis has been undertaken since the outstanding work on shabtis by Hans D. Schneider in 1977. Since his publication many more shabtis have been found, making it possible to collate or adapt Schneiders work to a larger data set. It is however impossible to do research on all these shabtis, since many are still unpublished, making it necessary to establish some boundaries. The subject of my Masters thesis at the Leiden University (The Netherlands) has been limited both in time and space and concerns only Late Period Shabti Groups from Saqqara. This corpus has been mentioned by Schneider in his work1, which forms the starting point of my thesis, but more specimens of these groups have appeared in publication, making them accessible for research. I will discuss the iconographical and textual aspects of the shabtis, trying to see whether Schneiders findings can be complemented. Furthermore, I will look at iconographical differences within and between these different shabti groups. The Body Proportion Index (BPI)

Inspired by the Anthropoid Coffin Proportion Indices as created by R. van Walsem2, I created a Body Proportion Index which will be an important aspect of the current study. It is a formula which calculates the body proportions of the shabtis by dividing the height by the width (100 * max. height max. width). The results obtained from application of this formula to the corpus will tell us whether fixed proportions were used in the making of the shabtis and whether these proportions changed over time. Since the use of moulds is well known for the production of shabtis, fixed

I would like to thank A. P. Jagich, H.W. Lam, and dr. R.W.N. Goedemans for their helpful advice and corrections. 1 Schneider (1977), 33840. 2 Van Walsem (1987), 1334.

proportions are the most likely results. Slight differences could however perhaps tell us something about the number of moulds used. Furthermore, we can look at differences in the proportions between groups, possibly relating these findings to social status, reflecting the cultural traditions and production methods.

While conducting the research for my Masters thesis, I learned of the existence of two hitherto unknown Late Period shabtis from Saqqara belonging to the Overseer of the Royal Ships3; Hekaemsaf4. These shabtis are on loan from the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum and are now on display in the World Arts Museum in Rotterdam. The aim of this article is to give a description of the two shabtis, reference to other known shabtis of Hekaemsaf will of course be made. Apart from his tomb, only an unpublished seal containing the name of the 26th dynasty king Amasis together with that of Hekaemsaf is all that has come down to us, concerning our Overseer of the Royal Ships. The tomb of Hekaemsaf was discovered by Alexandre Barsanti in the necropolis of Saqqara to the East of the pyramid of Unas in 19035. It was undisturbed and contained a wealth of funeral equipment, among which 401 shabtis (Journal dEntre no. 35905) were found. They were placed on wooden bases at both sides of the entrance to the tomb chamber. The finds were published by Barsanti in a short report6, while Maspero covered the texts on the walls7 which were copied from the Pyramid Texts of Unas. The texts do not provide us with any information regarding Hekaemsafs relatives, but only mention Hekaemsafs titles of prince, seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, sole friend, controller of the palace (xrp-aH), overseer of the storehouse of refreshments (imy-r sqb), overseer of the double treasury of the residence (imy-r prwy HDwy nw Xnw) and overseer of the royal ships8. These titles suggest that Hekaemsaf was a high official who not only had connections with the royal household9, but was also in

3 For other references of this unusual title, see Goyon (1969), 15971. 4 Dr B.J.J. Haring deserves all credit for noticing these statuettes during a visit to the museum. He was kind enough to suggest the topic to me as a subject for my thesis. I would also like to thank J. Giltay for allowing me to publish this article. For the name Hekaemsaf, see Ranke (1935), 256.24. 5 Porter & Moss III. Memphis (1931), 174. 6 Barsanti (1905), 69-78. 7 Maspero (1905), 7883. 8 Bjrkman (1974), 76. 9 Ibid.

charge of fluvial transports. This last aspect is reflected in the unusual title of imy-r wHa.w10 nsw meaning overseer of the royal ships, and this was the only title he used on his shabtis. Whether this means that this was his most important title11, is however still open for debate. The title has been extensively studied by Goyon12 and his conclusions support Bjorkmans interpretation.

As has been stated above, besides the tomb, only a seal containing the name of Hekaemsaf has been found. This is an important artefact, since it also mentions the 26th dynasty king Amasis, which places Hekaemsaf in his reign. The seal, from the Michalidis Collection, is however still unpublished and can therefore not be referenced here13.

The two shabtis, which are to be discussed below, are part of a group consisting of 401 specimen. They are now widely dispersed amongst museums and private collections and only 52 have reappeared after the discovery of the tomb. An overview of all these shabtis is given in Table 1. The two shabtis in the World Arts Museum

The first of the two shabtis (inventory number 53703) is made of Egyptian faience14 with a blue-green glaze and measures 16.5 cm in height and 4.4 cm in width (Figure 1a15). It is mummiform with a striated tripartite wig which leaves the ears uncovered and it has a plaited divine beard. The arms are crossed right over left and closely resemble Schneiders H416. The difference however is that the long sleeve of the right hand is only indicated at the top where it is crossed by the left hand. The bottom of the sleeve blends in with the rest of the body. This feature is also visible in the other shabtis of Hekaemsaf, making it an option for a new type. Whether this should be a new type in Schneiders typology depends on whether Schneiders type H4 is still valid for other shabtis. If this is not the case,

10 Wb. III, 52. 11 See Bjrkman (1974), 76. 12 Goyon (1969). 13 Mention of this seal is made in the publication by Bjrkman (1974), 71. 14 For the origin of the somewhat misleading term Egyptian Faience, see Nicholson (1993), 9. 15 I thank E. Kevenaar of the World Arts Museum at Rotterdam for helping me to take photos of the shabtis, as well as for providing the photos taken by the museums photographer. She also allowed me to take measurements of the shabtis using a standard caliper. 16 Schneider (1977), Part III, Figure 12. See also Part II, 2224 of Schneiders publication for an overview of Schneiders classification.

and all other shabtis resemble those of Hekaemsaf, then the introduction of a new type should not be nescessary17. The hands protrude from the shroud holding a pick and a hoe with a cord in respectively the right and left hand. The mouth has the characteristic saitic smile 18 and the statue is supported by a trapezoidal base together with a dorsal pillar, the latter incised with a single hieroglyphic vertical inscription (Figure 2a) mentioning the name and titles of the owner:19

wSb.t.y Wsir imy-r wHa.w nsw HqA-m-sA=f m=k (wi k)A=Tn r nw [nb]

[Shabti of the Osiris, the Overseer of the Royal Ships, Hekaemsaf. Here I am will you say at any time.]

The conservation of the shabti is very good, since it only contains a little bit of staining20 at the base and around the hands and wig. A peculiar circle between the elbows and knees with a dark edge needs further examination and it is possible that this mark could have been left by the mould. Half of the nw sign (Gardiner N5) and the complete nb basket (Gardiner V30) are missing at the end of the inscription, suggesting that either the base should have been larger, or that the writer ran out of space. The base looks similar to that of the other shabti which however contains all the necessary signs. This would suggest that the base has the appropriate width, leaving the conclusion that the writer just ran out of space. It is rather interesting to see that the writer did not correct his mistake. He left quite some space

between the and the , so he did not try to squeeze in the last signs. If the base has the appropriate width, the writer also wrote half of the sun disk. This last aspect seems extremely awkward, but due to the modern base which has been glued to the shabti, it is impossible to determine the actual events. Finally, the last boat sign in the word wHa.w is damaged by a small crack, and staining covers not only that sign, but also the first two signs of Hekaemsafs name. The last seven signs are also covered by staining but are all still visible. 17 Since no other shabti groups shall be discussed in this article, the necessity of a new type will be discussed in the publication of my Masters thesis. 18 Aldred (1980), 228; Schfer (1974), 292 19 This sentence is based on spell 6 of the book of the dead. See also Allen (1974), 8. The peculiar shape of the Egyptian vulture (Gardiner G1) is a feature that appears on multiple examples of Hekaemsafs shabtis. 20 It is not known whether the staining was produced on purpose or whether it is a natural process. See also: Bianchi (1996), 4649.

The second shabti (inventory number 53704; Figure 1b) is identical

in size to the first one and contains the same inscription. It has the same mummiform shape with a striated tripartite wig and a plaited divine beard. The hands are crossed right over left holding the same implements as the first shabti. The hands again resemble Schneiders H421, but the right sleeve continues downwards almost touching the base of the right elbow. The saitic smile also adorns this specimen as well as a dorsal pillar transforming into a trapezoidal base. The dorsal pillar touches the wig but is separated from it and the inscription is surrounded by an incised line which is open at the bottom. This could suggest that the base was larger than it is today, but no real evidence is available to support this22. The shabti contains a light stain from the face to around the waist. The inscription (Figure 2b) reads:

wSb.t.y Wsir imy-r wHa.w nsw HqA-m-sA=f m=k (wi k)A=Tn r nw nb

[Shabti of the Osiris, the Overseer of the Royal Ships, Hekaemsaf. Here I am you will say at any time.]

When one looks at all published shabtis of Hekaemsaf, multiple peculiarities arise23. The fronts of the shabtis closely resemble each other, while the backsides show slight differences, indicating the use of open moulds24. Variations are visible in the text25 as well as the types of bag26. From the shabtis in Table 1, numbers 2, 3, 13, 25, and 26 have a border around the text. This border is open at the bottom except for number 26, which has a perfectly closed border. This latter specimen also has the most space left at the bottom, whereas the other bordered examples simply do not have enough space for the horizontal border at the bottom. Why there

21 Schneider (1977), Part III, Figure 12. 22 Another shabti of Hekaemsaf, published by Bjrkman (1974), has the same line around the inscription which is open at the bottom. Since no signs are missing, the base needs not be larger. 23 Since the aim of this article is to present only the two unpublished shabtis, a detailed iconographical description is not given here. This will however be given in the written version of my Masters thesis. 24 An example of an open mould from the Late Period is published in Stewart (1995), 42 Figure 41. 25 Number 6 in the table has only 2 ship signs (Gardiner P1) in the name of Hekaemsaf, whereas all others contain 3 signs. This seems to me to be a spelling error. 26 Schneiders type B20, B28 and B26a are all used on Hekaemsafs shabtis.

are also examples without a border is not known, although two examples27 also used the socle to write the signs on, creating two coloms of text which made it impossible to border the inscription. Our examples also have little or no space left for a horizontal border at the bottom. However, whether this border was once present or not is unclear.

Concerning the missing signs on our example no. 53703, one other suggestion can be put forward. When one looks at the bases of the statuettes, it seems as though the aforementioned example had a smaller socle than the other shabtis. Comparison showed that the bases of the other shabtis comprised of more than 3% of the total length while no. 53703 had a value of less than two percent28. Together with the fact that the rest of the socle was not used to write the signs on, as is the case with numbers 11 and 26 in table 1, it seems most likely that part of the socle broke off. If we look at the Body Proportion Index (BPI), not much can be said at this stage. I have taken the measurements from the available photographs, since given measures almost always also include the socle. The results are given in Table 1, which shows an average of 382. When we compare these results to those of other shabti groups, more information about the proportions can be given. Unfortunately, more data is not yet available. The results of this analysis will, however, be implemented in my thesis. Together with the shabtis mentioned by Janes29, a total of 54 shabtis of Hekaemsaf are accounted for. This, however, still leaves 347 unpublished shabtis, which at present cannot be studied. Hopefully, in the future, more shabtis of Hekaemsaf will be published, giving us the opportunity to enhance our knowledge on Late Period shabti groups.

27 Number 11 and 26 in Table 1. 28 These measures where taken from photographs which can of course be distorted. Real measurements should be taken to verify these results. 29 Janes (2002), 207.

Bibliography

ASAE Annales du Service des Antiquits de lEgypte (Le Caire) BIFAO Bulletin de lInstitut franais dArchologie orientale

(Le Caire) BSEG Bulletin de la Socit dEgyptologie, Genve (Geneva) CdE Chronique dgypte (Brussels) Aldred, C., 1980. Egyptian Art in the Days of the Pharaohs (London). Allen, T.G., 1974. The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day: Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians Concerning the Hereafter as Expressed in Their Own Terms (Chicago). Aubert, J.-F., 1976. Les statuettes funraires de la collection Omar Pacha, CdE 50, 61. Barsanti, A., 1905. Fouilles autour de la pyramide dOunas (19021903) XII. Le tombeau de Hikaoumsaf. Rapporte sur la dcouverte, ASAE 5, 6978. Bianchi, R.S., 1996. Faience and glazes, The Macmillan Dictionary of Art, Vol. 10, 4649 (London). Bjrkman, G., 1971. A Selection of Objects in the Smith Collection of Egyptian Antiquities at the Linkping Museum, Sweden (Stockholm). Bjrkman, G., 1974. From the Gustavianum collections in Uppsala, 1974 (Uppsala). Brandes, M.A., 1985. Vom Euphrat zum Nil : Kunst aus dem alten gypten und Vorderasien: eine Ausstellung der Gesellschaft der Freunde eines Schweizerischen Orient-Museums im Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau, Kartause Ittingen, 28. April-15. September 1985. Chappaz, J.-L., 1987 - present. Rpertoire annuel des figurines funraires, BSEG 11 present.

Charles Ede Ltd., 1995. Small Sculpture from Ancient Egypt XXII (London). Curto, S, 1961. LEgitto Antico nelle Collezioni dellItalia Settentrionale (Bologna). Eggebrecht A. (ed.), 1990. Suche nach Unsterblichkeit Totenkult und Jenseitsglaube im Alten gypten (Mainz). Govi, C.M., et al., 1990. Il Senso dellArte nellAntico Egitto (Milan). Goyon, J.-C., 1969. La statuette funraire i.e. 84 de Lyon et le titre saite

, BIFAO 67, 15971. Grenier, J.-C., 1996. Les Statuettes Funraires du Museo Gregoriano Egizio (Vatican City). Janes, G., 2002. Shabtis : A Private View : Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes in European Private Collections (Paris). Leospo, E., 1986. Museo Archeologico di Asti : la collezione egizia (Regione Piemonte). Leospo, E., 1999. Io Vivr per Sempre : Storia di un Sacerdote nellAntico Egitto (Genoa). Maspero, G., 1905. XII. Les inscriptions du tombeau de Hikoumsaouf, ASAE 5, 7883. Naguib, S., 1982. Deux Surintendants de la Flotte Royalea Oslo, BSEG 6, 6972. Nicholson, Paul T., 1993. Egyptian Faience and Glass. Shire Egyptology Series 18 (Shire) Page-Gasser, M. & A.B. Wiese, 1997. gypten Augenblicke der Ewigkeit: Unbekannte Schatze aus Schweizer Privatbesitz (Mainz).

Porter, B. and R. Moss, 1931. Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings, Vol. III: Memphis (Oxford). Ranke, H., 1935. Die gyptischen Personennamen, I (Glckstadt). Roeder, G., 1921. Die Denkmler des Pelizaeus-Museums zu Hildesheim (Berlin/Hildesheim). Schfer, H., 1974. Principles of Egyptian Art (Oxford). Schlgl, H.A. & A. Brodbeck, 1990. gyptischen Totenfiguren aus ffentlichen und Privaten Sammlungen der Schweiz (Freiburg). Schneider, H. D., 1977. Shabtis: An Introduction to the History of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes with a Catalogue of the Collection of Shabtis in the National Museum of Antiquities at Leiden (Leiden). Steindorff, G., 1946. Catalogue of the Egyptian Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore). Stewart, H.M., 1995. Egyptian Shabtis. Shire Egyptology Series 23 (Buckinghamshire). Van der Plas, D. (ed), 1999. Egyptian Treasures in Europe vol. 1 1000 Highlights (Utrecht). Van der Walle, B., et al., 1952. Les Antiquitis gyptiennes, greques, trusques, romaines et gallo-romaines du Muse royal de Mariemont (Brussels). Van Walsem, R., 1987. Anthropiod coffin proportion indices, and a method for obtaining data from photographs, Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 18, 1334. Wangstedt, S.W., 1969. Uschebtis aus der gyptischen Sptzeit, Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities Medelhavsmuseet 5, 289 (Stockholm).

Wb. = Erman, A. and H. Grapow., 1926293. Wrterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache, Band I-IV (Leipzig). Yurko, F. J., 1992. Egypt : A Companion to the Exhibit Inside Ancient Egypt (Chicago).

Figure 1a. Shabti no. 53703 (courtesy of the World Arts Museum)

Figure 1b. Shabti no. 53704 (courtesy of the World Arts Museum)

Figure 2a/b. Facsimiles of the inscriptions on shabtis no. 53703 (left) and no. 53704 (right)

Number

Inventory

number Location City Country BPI Reference

1 104 Private collection 373 Janes (2002), 206-208 2 53703 World Arts Museum Rotterdam Netherlands 383 This article 3 53704 World Arts Museum Rotterdam Netherlands 383 This article 4 D185 Victoria Museum Uppsala Sweden 368 Bjrkman (1974), 71-80 5 171 Linkping Museum Linkping Sweden 372 Bjrkman (1971), 34-36

6 MM 10210

Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities Stockholm Sweden 387 Wangstedt (1969), 28-29

7 7 San Pietro in Consavia Asti Italy 400 Leospo (1986), 74

8 48.395 Walters Art Museum Baltimore United States Steindorff (1946), 161-162; no. 731-732

9 48.396 Walters Art Museum Baltimore United States Steindorff (1946), 161-162; no. 731-732

10 37.136 Brooklyn Museum of Art Brooklyn United States Janes (2002), 207 11 511.808 Budapest Hungary Janes (2002), 208 note 8

12 319 Roemer- and Pelizaeus museum Hildesheim Germany van der Plas (1999), Roeder (1921), 113

13 320 Roemer- and Pelizaeus museum Hildesheim Germany 376 Eggebrecht (1990), 72-73

14 BM EA 9169 British Museum London United Kingdom Janes (2002), 208 note 10

16,17,18 122-124 Tigrane-Pacha Collection Cairo Egypt Janes (2002), 207, Goyon (1969), 161

19 I.E. 84 l'Institut d'Egyptologie de la Facult des Lettres Lyons France Goyon (1969), 159-171

20 B 398 Royal Museum of Mariemont Mariemont Belgium 356 Walle et al (1952), 53, plt. 17 21 Munich Germany Janes (2002), note 14i 22 10.177 Kunstindustrimuseet Oslo Norway 368 Naguib (1982), 69-72 23 E10210 Louvre Paris France Janes (2002), 207 24 19364 Vatican City Rome Italy 378 Grenier (1996), 85 no. 125, plt. LIV 25 18.357 Museo Egizio Turin Italy 431 Govi et al (1990), 224-225 no. 176 /

Leospo (1999), 46

26 ZA L 319 University Archaeological Collection Zurich Switzerland 374 Schlgl & Brodbeck (1990), 246 no. 172

27 FP 19 Private collection Freiburg Germany 385 Schlgl & Brodbeck (1990), 247 no. 172a

28 The Field Museum Chicago United States Yurko (1992), 41 29 276 Omar Pacha Collection Aubert (1976), 61 30 - Amherst Collection Janes (2002), 207 31 - Maxwell Collection Janes (2002), 207 32 - Private collection France Janes (2002), 207 33 - Private collection France Janes (2002), 207 34 - Private collection France Janes (2002), 207

35 - Private collection Switzerland 389

Page-Gasser & Wiese (1997), 246-47 no. 161b / Brandes (1985), 29 no. 12

36 - Offered for sale Charles Ede Ltd. (1995), no.49 37 - Offered for sale Bonhams, 12/12/96 lot 153 38 - Offered for sale Bonhams, 22/9/98 lot 91 39 - Offered for sale Christie's, 13-14/12/83 lot 88 40 - Offered for sale Christie's, 10/7/87 lot 51 41 - Offered for sale Christie's, 8/6/88 lot 184 42 - Offered for sale Christie's, 8/7/92 lot 232 43 - Offered for sale Paris France Drouot, 7/12/95 lot 212 44 - Offered for sale Paris France Drouot, 29-30/9/97 lot 690 45 - Offered for sale Paris France Drouot, 1/7/98 lot 71 46 - Offered for sale Paris France Drouot, 11-12/11/01 lot 232 47 - Offered for sale Sotheby's, 29/3/71 lot 34 48 - Offered for sale Sotheby's, 10-11/12/84 lot 439 49 - Offered for sale Sotheby's, 9/12/85 lot 232 50 - Offered for sale Sotheby's, 28/4/94 lot 17 51 - Offered for sale New York United States Christie's, 08.06.2001 no. 105

Table 1 An overview of Hekaemsafs shabtis i According to Janes, this shabti is in the Antiquarium at Munich. Personal communication with Dr. S. Heym revealed that it is not in the Antiquarium but probably situated in one of the other many museums in Munich.

52 - Offered for sale France Drouot-Montaignez 11-12.11.2001 no.232

53 - - France Le Figaro / l'art Egyptien, 206, 325

54 - Offered for sale Paris France Galeri de la reine Margot, s.d., 6, no. 3