LOT 0022

Egyptian Faience Shabti for Nes-Khonsu

THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 21ST-22ND DYNASTY, CIRCA 1085-713 B.C.

4 3/4 in. (166 grams, 12.2 cm).

A pale blue-green faience mummiform shabti, with arms crossed and holding a hoe in each hand, wearing a tripartite wig with a headband with ties hanging down at the back; a seed bag suspended below the wig; the outline of the eyes, eyebrows, hoes, and seed bag painted black; a central column of hieroglyphs on the front reading: wsı͗r šmꜤyt n ı͗mn ns-ḫns.w ‘The Osiris, chantress of Amun, Nes-Khonsu.’

Ex German private collection.
Acquired from Galerie BB-Antiken & Asiatika with stock reference no.366/08.
From the private collection of a Belgian collector.
Ex TimesAncient, Bristol, UK.

Accompanied by a copy of the Galerie BB-Antiken & Asiatika certificate dated 1 December 2008.
Accompanied by a copy of a previous catalogue entry.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

For the name Nes-Khonsu, see Ranke, H., Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Band I, p. 178, no.20.

Nes-Khnosu (and the variant Nesy-Khonsu) were common names during the Third Intermediate Period. However, the combination of the name and title in the dedication on this shabti is less common. It is possible that this shabti comes from tomb 339 at Deir el-Medineh in Western Thebes. The tomb was discovered by Bernard Bruyère in 1929 (Rapports préliminaires Deir el Médineh, Cairo, 1930, p. 89, 92), from where blue faience shabtis bearing the same dedication were recovered.
Traditionally, chantresses were female performers who acted as dancers and rhythmic musicians. Like Nes-Khnosu, many were associated with temples and played significant roles in religious festivals.