Shuffling box of Pa-ni-Rutenutet

Shuffling box of Pa-ni-Rutenutet (grave equipment / shabti)

Historical dating: Seti II

painted Wood

To store the so-called shabtis, which were added to the deceased in the grave and as his deputies to take over the otherworldly services, wooden boxes were often used. The painted, wooden shabti box of Pa-ni-renenutet, which originally contained a few shabtis, has a rectangular plan. The walls are slightly eroded. Four high partitions are added over the two narrow walls and over the box to divide it into three equal sections. Three domed lids, each with a round knob, can be seen between the four partitions. Three more round buttons are attached to a longitudinal wall. They serve to tie and seal the lid. The shape of the shabtat box corresponds to three adjacent, sub-Egyptian chapels,

On one side of the long side is the deceased kneeling in front of a sacrificial table, who adores the enthroned Osiris in the company of the Nephthys. On the other side you can see the kneeling, adoring Pa-en-renenutet in front of Re-Harachte and Isis. Between the hands of the worshiper in the two scenes hangs each one ivy tendril down, the green color of which resembles the skin color of the four deities depicted and symbolizes the rejuvenation or resurrection. On the narrow walls are each two mummiform Horussöhne below a representation of a lying on a shrine jackal shown.

According to the inscriptions, Pa-ni-renenutet (literally, “The Serpent Goddess Renenutet”) was a supervisor of the porters in the Amun temple. However, the mention of Thebes-West in an inscription suggests that he may not have worked in the great Karnak temple in Thebes, but in one of the smaller Amun shrines on the west bank.

Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of the State Museums in Berlin.