Imposing ushabti of Psamtik-mery-Ptah
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Object number
AR3045
| Object: |
Imposing ushabti of Psamtik-mery-Ptah
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| Material: |
Green faience.
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| Period: |
Rule of Pharao Amasis II (also referred to as Ahmose II), 570 BC to 526 BC, towards the end of the 26th dynasty, Late Period of Ancient Egypt. |
| Description: |
Large Egyptian shabti for Psamtik-mery-Ptah (Psmtk-mrj-Pth), superintendent of the royal fleet under Pharaoh Amasis II.
The funerary statuette with a mummy shaped body and rear pillar stands on a small base plate. Wearing a tripartite wig with visible ears, attached beard. The arms are crossed in front of the chest, holding an agricultural implement in each hand, a seed basket on the back of the left shoulder. The front and sides are inscribed with engraved hieroglyphs arranged in several lines and separated by horizontal lines. The text reads: Psamtik-mery-Ptah, superintendent of the royal fleet, son of Khonsou-Hor, divine father, sem-priest of Sokar, initiated to the mysteries of the necropolis and son of noble dame Merpepiites. It is an artistically high quality and impressive figurine of a well known person from the entourage of Pharaoh Amasis II. The title superintendent of the royal fleet can be loosely interpreted as an admiral, although the parallels to today's understanding of an admiral are probably small. |
| Background: |
The original owner of the funerary statuette presented here, Psamtik-mery-Ptah, is a well-known official from the 26th dynasty of ancient Egypt. A stele bearing his name and his four Canopic jars are now in the Louvre. A statue fragment and a bust of him are privately owned. The stele records that he attended the funeral of the Apis bull, who died in the 23rd year of the reign of Pharaoh Amasis II (also known as Ahmose II) [cf. Louvre acc.no. 333/4019, Stèle commémorant l'enterrement du taureau Apis mort sous le règne d'Amasis]. His parents are known by name from his ushabtis, his father is Khonsou-Hor (also transcribed Chons-Hor) and his mother is Merpepiites (also transcribed Meripepites). The official title of Psamtik-mery-Ptah was superintendent of the royal fleet, an office of high standing under the Pharaoh. Three people held this post during Amasis' II reign. It is sometimes compared to an admiral in today's culture. As a naval commander, Psamtik-mery-Ptah was on an important mission. His term in office coincided with the Babylonian military aggression under king Nebuchadnezzar II whose troops famously invaded Palestine and conquered Jerusalem. Egypt launched a counter attack and the war was also fought at see. The admiral's fleet attacked Phoenician coastal cities in the Holy Land and forged important alliances with Mediterranean countries. The tomb of the superintendent Psamtik-mery-Ptah is located southeast of the pyramid of Unas in Saqqara. The grave complex has almost royal dimensions and its architects created new protective mechanisms against grave robbers. These worked for over 2300 years until archaeologists opened the grave at the beginning of the 19th century. They found 400 ushabtis of Psamtik-mery-Ptah. Most of them went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the remainder were sold to museums around the world and to private scholars. The Ashmolean Museum obtained its specimen in 1879 from the bequest of the collector John Henderson. As early as 1837, a specimen is said to have been offered to Auguste Mariette of the Musée de Boulogne-sur-mer by M. Macdonough. The specimen presented here must also be one of those that reached scholars outside Egypt after the early 19th century excavation. It was the euphoric time of the deciphering of the hieroglyphs, the Egyptomania after Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign. |
| Dimensions: |
18.9cm height without wooden base, 21.7cm height with wooden base. 5.1cm width.
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| Condition: |
Near perfect condition, restored break at the knees, minor chips to the surface. Imposing funerary statuette. Mounted on a modern wooden base. Sticker to the bottom and back side of the wooden base with hand written notes and number "11563".
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2020 on the Paris art market. Exported with French export permit no. 222356. Auctioned by the French auction house Briscadieu Bordeaux before 1950. Found at the beginning of the 19th century in the tomb complex of Psamtik-mery-Ptah southeast of the pyramid of Unas in Saqqara. Then appearently sold to a European scholar. |
| References: |
Cf. The Virtual Egyptian Museum, catalogue no. FAI.LL.00167 Cf. Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc.no. 17.194.2409. Cf. Michael C. Carlos Museum, object no. 2018.010.289. Cf. Ashmolean Museum, acc.no. AN1879.274. Cf. Musée Calvet, Avignon, acc.no. A165. Cf. Liebigshaus, Frankfurt a. M., acc.no. 1758. Cf. Galerie Eberwein, Katalog Antike Kunst 2013, no. 27. |
| Literature: |
The good treatises by the Virtual Egyptian Museum and the MET refer to the following literature: J.-F. and L. Aubert, Statuettes égyptiennes: chaouabtis, ouchebtis (1974, Librairie d’Amerique et d’ Orient), plate 58, nos 140, 226, 227, 230. K. Jansen-Winkeln, Inschriften der Spätzeit, Teil IV: Die 26. Dynastie, p. 538f. For the commemorative stele to the Apis bull from the reign of Amasis II in the Louvre: B. Letellier und L. M. Berman, Pharaohs - Treasures of Egyptian Art from the Louvre (The Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Oxford Press, 1996), p. 80f, 97. For the privately held statue fragment of Psamtik-mery-Ptah: T. Staubli, Werbung für die Götter (Bibel+Orient Museum, 2003), p. 54f. |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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