The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 7, 2026

A fragmented terracotta figurine with a muted, light-blue glaze depicts a human form missing its head and shoulders. The cylindrical body exhibits a pitted, weathered texture, revealing patches of reddish-brown clay beneath the worn pigment. It tapers toward a flared base representing two small, joined feet. The broken upper edge highlights the coarse material of the sculpture, which stands upright despite its incomplete state.

Shawabty of Ditamenpaankh

715–656 BCE

Egypt, Late period , Dynasty 25

(715–332 BCE)
terracotta
Overall: 4.4 x 1.6 x 1.2 cm (1 3/4 x 5/8 x 1/2 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1914.718.45
Location: Not on view

Description

High demand for shawabtys in the Late Period, a time when as many as 400 or more shawabtys were placed in the tomb with the deceased, gave rise to a specialized container for storing them: the shawabty box. This example is inscribed for the lady of the house, Ditamenpaankh, and was probably one of a pair originally made for her. The single-masted boat on the box's lid is perhaps an allusion to the pilgrimage of the deceased to the holy city of Abydos, the cult city of Osiris, king of the dead. The shawabtys inside are crude, mass-produced examples cast in an open mold. Made of terracotta, their blue paint imitates more costly shawabtys made of faience. As for the shawabty spell, it has been removed from its traditional location on the shawabty's front and relocated onto the sides of box, where it needed only to be written once, thus expediting production.
  • Probably Thebes. Purchased in Egypt by Lucy Olcott Perkins through Henry W. Kent.
  • Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 448-9
  • {{cite web|title=Shawabty of Ditamenpaankh|url=false|author=|year=715–656 BCE|access-date=07 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1914.718.45