THE FUNERARY STATUETTES FROM TOMB OF TETA-KY
BY PERCY E. NEWBERRY
The discovery of Model Sarcophagi containing Funerary Statuettes in
small holes on the four sides of the entrance to the mummy shaft (see
Pl. II and p. 13) of Teta-ky’s tomb is of considerable interest; it is,
I believe, the first recorded instance of shawabti figures having been
found in such positions. They were placed in the four holes in pairs;
each model coffin and figure bears a different name, but curiously
enough, that of Teta-ky, whose body was buried in the sarcophagus
chamber at the bottom of the shaft, does not occur. Each model coffin
consists of a rectangular box and lid of wood; the lid, having uprights
at each end, is curved in section [Illustration: graphic]: outside, the
lid and box is painted white, with three blue vertical bands on box, and
the lids are inscribed in black ink with the name of the person for whom
the shawabti figure in the sarcophagus was made (Pl. X. 1). Each
shawabti figure is of wood carved to represent a human mummy with arms
crossed over chest, face and hands gilt, head-dress blue, and body white
(Pl. X. 2). Each figure is also inscribed with the usual shawabti text
in horizontal lines across the front and sides of the body. The people
for whom these figures were carved are: (1) the [Illustration:
hieroglyph] ‘Overseer of the Garden of Amen, Ra-hotep’; (2)
[Illustration: hieroglyph] (vars.[Illustration: hieroglyph] and
[Illustration: hieroglyph]) ‘Sen-senb’; (3) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
‘Teta-nefer’; (4)[Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘Teta-an’; (5)
[Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘Teta-em-ra’; (6) [Illustration: hieroglyph]
‘Ŷma’; (7) [Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘Res’; and (8) [Illustration:
hieroglyph] ‘Senbu’. The first two names, it should be observed, are
those of Teta-ky’s father and mother; probably the remaining six are
also of other members of his family. We may, therefore, hazard the
conjecture that these eight shawabti figures were placed at the opening
of the shaft in the belief that they would protect, or ‘answer for’,
their relation Teta-ky, whose body was interred below.
Besides the Funerary Statuettes described above, a large number of
figures in Model Sarcophagi[12] were discovered in the four niches in
the wall on the west side of the main court (Pls. I, II, p. 13). These
Model Sarcophagi are of painted pottery, mud, or wood, the boxes are
rectangular or oval in shape, with lids having uprights at each end;
some of them bear inscriptions (Pl. XI). The figures are all of wood
roughly carved to represent human mummies, and some of them are
inscribed (Pl. XII. 2). The inscriptions, written in linear hieroglyphs
or in hieratic, are of five types:--
(1) Giving only the name of the person for whom they were made.
(2) The simple _de hetep seten_ formula to Osiris: e.g. [Illustration:
hieroglyph]
(3) The _de hetep seten_ formula to Osiris, Lord of Busiris and Abydos.
(4) The _de hetep seten_ formula to Osiris with name of dedicator added;
e.g. [Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘(dedicated) by his son who makes to
live his name Teta-an.’
(5) The shawabti text in its early form: [Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘Oh!
this shawabti, if Teta-ky in the underworld is summoned to do work for a
man according to his duties, to cultivate the fields, to flood the banks
(for irrigation purposes), or to carry sand from west to east. Behold I
am there to do it.’
The personal names occurring on these shawabti figures are typical of
the period immediately preceding the XVIIIth Dynasty. I arrange them in
alphabetical order.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Aahmes.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Aahmes-sa-pa-ar.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Aah-hetep.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Antef.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Atef.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Ŷma.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Pa-khnems.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Nekhtu.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Ra-hotep.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Res.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Sena.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Sen-senb.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Senbu.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Tahuti.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Tahutŷ-aah.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Tahutimes.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-an.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-ankh.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-em-ra.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-mesu.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-nefer.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-hemt.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-sa.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-senb.
[Illustration: hieroglyph] Teta-ky.
Table for offerings (Pl. XII. 1) with rectangular depressions pierced
with holes for draining to spout, and inscribed with the _de hetep
seten_ formula to Osiris Khent-amenti, and to Osiris, Lord of Busiris
and of Abydos, that he may give offerings for the _Ka_ of the Royal Son,
Teta-ky. The horizontal line across the lower part of the table for
offerings gives:--
(1) The name and titles of Teta-ky’s father [Illustration: hieroglyph]
and (2) of his mother, the [Illustration: hieroglyph].
A fragment of a statue of Teta-ky bears the following legend:--
[Illustration: hieroglyph] ‘Mayor in the Southern City (i.e. Thebes)
Teta-ky, justified’. This is the earliest known reference to the office
of a Mayor of Thebes.