The flat backed worker figure, depicted with black wig, carrying two hoes, a diamond-patterned mesh bag across the back, one column of text down the front, for the female Osiris Meret-Amun.
Meret-Amun was the daughter of High Priest of Amun Menkheperra A and Isememkhebit C and (half-)sister of Pinedjem II, Ankhefenmut, Gautseshen A, Hori, and Tjanefer and a granddaughter of Pinudjem I.
The lady was buried in a coffin set, which is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, together with her funerary papyrus. The funerary equipment included an Osiris shroud, a human-headed scarab, a winged scarab on the chest, a gilded wood embalmer’s plaque, a bronze hawk pectoral, four canopic jars, and two shabti-boxes. Three different types of shabtis can be ascribed to Meritamun, with differences in shape, measurements, and the writing of her name.
Other examples of the first type of shabtis for Meritamun are found in museums in Amiens,1 Basel,2 Bruxelles,3 Cairo,4 Copenhagen,5 Leiden,6 Lisbon,7 London,8 Madrid,9 Marseille,10 Oslo,11 Paris,12 Roanne13 and St. Gallen.14
Literature:
Cf. H. Schneider, Shabtis, Leiden, 1977 p.127, 4.3.1.41,
A. Pellegrini, Bessarione VII (1899–1900), p. 12 n. 53–54.
1 Dautant et al. 2013, Table 1 n. 8 (overseer).
2 Schlögl and Brodbeck 1990, 174 n. 106b.
3 http://carmentis.kmkg‑mrah.be, E 05406 a–b.
4 Newberry 1957, pp. 43–44 CG 46773–78 and p. 52 CG 46849–72.
5 Mogensen 1918, n. 3989–3990.
6 Schneider 1977, n. 4.3.1. 8–9.
7 Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, n. 2507-8 A and B. Araujo 2003, 624–625 n. 30-31.
8 Petrie 1935, n. 295. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online, EA 24879–80.
9 MAN 18274–75.
10 Dautant et al. 2013, Table 1 n. 8.
11 Naguib 1985, EM 8105 (b) and EM 8112.
12 Louvre E 22086.
13 Gabolde 1990, 100 n. 80.
14 Schlögl and Brodbeck 1990, 173 n. 106.
15 Niwiński 1988, 128 n. 128. Inner coffin and mummy-board. Dating: late 21st Dynasty.
16 Niwiński 1989, 263 n. 31—S.R.IV.933 (JE 95836—Book of the Amduat, type A.II.1b).
17 Aston 2009, 175–176 TG. 744.
Medium: Faience
Dimensions: Height: 4 3/4 inches (12 cm)
Condition: The shabti is intact and in very good condition overall.
Provenance: Private Arizona collection, acquired in the 1980s.