Shawabty of Amenirdis child of Tadishededet

The shawabty belongs to Amenirdis, child of Tadishededet. This is a head and torso fragment of a shawabty which dates to the Late Period. The typology of this period consists of a tripartite wig, long beard, back pillar and base, with the figure holding the pick on the right shoulder and hoe and cord to a small seed bag on the left. The arms are crossed right over left. The shawabty is crudely formed and little detail is discernible. There is no evidence of a hairline or seed bag on the back. The shawabty is uninscribed. There are finger impressions on the back pillar. An ancient Egyptian shawabty is a funerary figurine that was intended to magically animate in the Afterlife in order to act as a proxy for the deceased when called upon to tend to field labor or other tasks. This expressed purpose was sometimes written on the shawabty itself in the form of a "Shawabty Spell," of which versions of various lengths are known. Shorter shawabty inscriptions could also just identify the deceased by name and, when applicable, title(s). However, many shawabtys carry no text at all. The ideal number of such figurines to include in a tomb or burial seems to have varied during different time periods.