Shabty of the Man Maya
Description
Object Label: Egyptians began using the hieroglyphic writing system to record language. Comprised of such recognizable elements as objects and animals, each hieroglyphic sign could be interpreted in different ways. Depending on the context, a hieroglyph could be read phonetically (representing a sound), as a logograph (representing a word), or as a determinative (representing a concept). The hieroglyphic inscription on this statuette identifies the owner as the artisan named Maya, and records for him a chapter from the Book of the Dead. Caption: Shabty of the Man Maya, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment, glass, 16 x 3 9/16 x 5 1/2 in. (40.7 x 9 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.226.21. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A wooden shabti figure representing an ancient Egyptian servant for the afterlife, inscribed with hieroglyphs.
This image depicts a wooden shabti figure with a mummiform shape, likely intended to serve the deceased in the afterlife. The figure displays a traditional nemes headdress and a detailed facial expression with eyes inlaid, possibly with stone or glass. The body is inscribed with several rows of hieroglyphs that typically identified the deceased and included magical texts to animate the shabti.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 86.226.21 tier-2
- BKM-Object 4262 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.