Jackal-Headed Shabti of Djehutymose

Dynasty Dynasty 18 (Ancient Egyptian, 1550–1295 BCE)

Dynasty Dynasty 19 (Ancient Egyptian, 1295–1186 BCE)

Period New Kingdom Period (Ancient Egyptian, 1550–1070 BCE)

Place of OriginEgypt, found in Tuna el-Gebel (ancient Hermopolis Magna)

Date18th–19th Dynasties (1550–1189 BCE), about 1450–1250 BCE

Dimensions10 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (27.3 × 10.8 × 8.3 cm)

MediumLimestone

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Boston Friend

Object number

1915.128

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis mummiform limestone statuette depicts a male figure with the head of a jackal, holding agricultural hoes in both hands across the chest. The figure is finely carved, with a tripartite wig that connects smoothly to the animal head. An incised inscription runs vertically down the front and back, invoking divine protection and identifying the figure’s owner.

Label TextAccording to the inscription on this figure, “To illuminate the Osiris Duamutef, overseer of the cattle, Djehutymose,” this jackal-headed statue in the shape of a mummy represents the spirit of the tomb owner Djehutymose in the form of Duamutef, one of the four Sons of Horus - protective deities associated with the mummification process.Published ReferencesHornemann, Bodil, Types of Ancient Egyptian Statuary I, Copenhagen, Munksgaard, 1951, pl. 72.

Schneider, Hans D., Shabtis: An Introduction to the History of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Statuettes, Leiden, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 1977, pp. 264–265.

Taylor, John H., "Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egyptian Thought," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 83, 1997, p. 237.

Taylor, John H., Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, London, British Museum Press, 2001, pp. 132-133.

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, repr. (col.) p. 52. Moje, Jan, The Ushebtis from Early Excavations in the Necropolis of Asyut, Mainly by David George Hogarth and Ahmed Bey Kamal, The Asyut Project 4, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013, pp. 94–95.

Janes, Glenn, The Shabti Collections: A Selection from World Museum, Liverpool, Lymm, Olicar House Publications, 2016, p. 115.

Auenmüller, Johannes, "Ein Beitrag zur regionalen Prosopografie des Neuen Reiches (I): Die provinzielle Elite von Tuna el-Gebel und Hermopolis," in Flossmann-Schütze, M.C., Hoffmann, Fr., and Schütze, Al. (eds.), Tuna el-Gebel – Eine ferne Welt, Tuna el-Gebel 8, Vaterstetten, 2020, p. 36.

Collombert, Philippe, “La formule de Khaemouaset,” in Collombert, Philippe; Coulon, Laurent; Guermeur, Ivan; Thiers, Christophe (eds.), Questionner le Sphinx: Mélanges offerts à Christiane Zivie-Coche, Cairo, Institut français d’archéologie orientale, 2021, pp. 252–254, fig. 12.

Exhibition History

Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010-January 8, 2012.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo, February 3- May 6, 2018.

Comparative ReferencesSchlögl, Hermann A., and Christa Meves-Schlögl, Uschebti: Arbeiter im ägyptischen Totenreich, Freiburg (Schweiz), Universitäts-Verlag, 1990, p. 47 (for a baboon-headed figure thought to be from the same find).