86-Shabti of the Vizier Paser

This bright blue faience mummiform shabti wears a striped lappet wig behind his pierced ears marked in black. Around his neck is a large, broad collar with a lily garland below. Paser’s crossed arms protrude from the wrappings, a distinctive feature of Dynasty 19 shabtis.¹ His wrist bracelets are painted. On the back is a yoke with two water pots and a small seed bag strung over one shoulder.

The shabti inscription, picked out in black, gives Paser’s name and titles as the “Overseer of the city of Thebes” and “Southern vizier,” the latter being one of the highest titles in ancient Egypt. He was appointed vizier by Sety I and remained in that role until at least the twenty-first year of Ramesses II.² Several of his shabtis were found at the Serapeum in Saqqara, donated to the sacred Apis bulls.³ This shabti likely came from Paser’s tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in western Thebes (TT106).⁴

EW

1. Mekawy Ouda 2016, 307. ↩︎

2. Donohue 1988, 106–107. ↩︎

3. Mekawy Ouda 2016, 309. ↩︎

4. Mekawy Ouda 2016, 310. ↩︎