Shabti of Akhenaten

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shabtis were intended to perform work that the deceased was called upon to do in the afterlife. More than two hundred shabti fragments inscribed for Akhenaten are known, and their existence suggests that belief in the afterlife and certain aspects of traditional funerary practices survived during the Amarna period. However, not surprisingly, Akhenaten's shabtis are inscribed only with the king's names and titles (see 47.57.2 or 66.99.106), not the standard shabti text (see 86.1.22). Shawabtis for the king's burial were probably prepared throughout his reign and in different workshops, as they show considerable variability. His shabtis with his burial equipment were certainly stored in the Royal Tomb, whatever scenario is imagined around his death and burial.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art