Egyptian Wood rare side board of a shabti box or canopic chest, Ptolemaic-Roman, 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.
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Narrow rectangular panel of a shabti box or canopic chest crowned on top by a circular segment. In the arched pediment a winged sun disk, below it in two registers separated by ornamental bands with celestial signs, a lion-shaped bier with the mummy of the deceased as part of the embalming rite and the falcon-headed god of the underworld Ptah-Sokar-Osiris with columns of hieroglyphics.
In ancient Egypt, the figure of the lion is very frequent in the iconography to embody some divinities and the king himself. Traditionally the lion represented power, ferocity, protection and was a symbol of sovereignty, embodying strength, courage and defense.
On the other hand, we see the falcon-headed god of the underworld Ptah-Sokar-Osiris with columns of hieroglyphs. Sokar was the god of darkness, of the Underworld (Duat), of which he guarded the gateway, and god of decay on earth. He was worshipped as god of the earth and fertility and was attributed the boat henu, which led the dead to the celestial regions. From the New Kingdom is represented as a falcon, or as a mummy with a falcon’s head, crown atef and sitting on a stone. When Ptah became the patron of the city of Memphis both gods merged into Ptah-Sokar. From the Third Intermediate Period was associated with Ptah and Osiris, forming the divinity Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, which brought together the functions of creation, metamorphosis and rebirth.
The increase in the number of shabti figurines placed in the tomb led to the creation of special containers for them: shabti boxes. In the Ramesside period (19th and 20th Dynasties) their structure was simple, but the continuous increase in their number made them grow from two to three compartments.
Some tall wooden vessels of the Ptolemaic period are sometimes misidentified as shabti boxes, although they appear to be the latest form of canopic container, or tall chests for the mummified body’s internal organs separately. The canopic jars, which had been used for thousands of years, came to an end sometime during the Ptolemaic (Greek) period. Very few Ptolemaic canopies are known, but they seem to have been replaced by small tall shrine-like chests. They were brightly painted, decorated with images of genii and topped by small statues of a squatting falcon.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, accession number 86.1.14, for a comparable figure; The British Museum, number EA41548, EA54090 and EA8535.
