Collecting data: bibliographical research and study of shabtis in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden.

• Grant number: 24/09613-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 25, 2024
• End date: February 24, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Historical Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Vagner Carvalheiro Porto
• Grantee: Thaisy Nogueira Palmuti
• Supervisor: Toon Sykora
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Dutch National Museum Of Antiquities, Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/02061-9 - Funerary servants/shabtis from the XXI Dynasty (1069-945 BC) from the USP Museum of Archeology and Ethnology collection: update and analysis., BP.IC

Abstract

The Scientific Initiation project "Funerary Servants/Shabtis of the 21th Dynasty (1069-945 B.C.) from the collection of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of USP: updating and analysis" aims to revise and update the data of seven shabtis from the museum's collection, as well as to conduct an iconographic analysis of these objects. The project seeks to understand how their physical characteristics (support, text, and iconography) are related to their function in this period. The research to be carried out at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden aims to collect data about the pieces analyzed in Brazil through other shabtis existing in the foreign collection. We will analyze artifacts belonging to the same owners and members of their family as the shabtis from the MAE, as well as other shabtis from the 21st dynasty that may contribute to our analysis. We intend to apply the RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) technique, as conducted at the MAE, to these pieces to deepen our understanding. Additionally, it aims to conduct an bibliographical research at the museum's library and the Leiden University Library, especially the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO) department. The information acquired in this research will be included in the product of the work carried out in Brazil and will be made available in the Digital Library of Intellectual Production of the University of São Paulo (BDPI), the repository of USP productions.