Shawabty of Ankh-hor born of Tadiuserpahap

This Late Period shawabty is inscribed for Ankh-hor, born of Tadiuserpahap. 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. Here there is no seed bag and no wig line on the flat back pillar. The arms are crossed right over left. There is one column of text incised on the back pillar. The object was broken in two pieces and is now mended. There is no seed bag and no wig line. The base is missing. The bottom fragment is bright blue in color. 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.