One of the most dramatic examples of the
shawabti belief and practice was the discovery
in the tomb of the great king of the 25th
dynasty, per-aa Taharka. When his burial cham-
ber was opened near Nuri in Sudan, there were
1,070 shawabti standing in neat rows in the
tomb. Some of the shawabti in Taharka’s tomb
were 2 feet tall and made of granite or
alabaster. They were not all made of the same
materials. However, the large numbers of
shawabti found in this grave suggest that the
king was looking forward to much work,
which, gladly, he would not have to perform.
Taharka ruled from 690 to 664 BC and recon-
structed the temples and ancient monuments of
Egypt. In fact, he was one of the most active of
all the kings, ranking in the company of Ramses
II, Thutmoses III, and Pepi I. No king’s tomb
has been found to have more shawabti than
that of Taharka. It is believed that the highest
number ever found before King Taharka was
410 found during the New Kingdom. According
to theBook of the Going Forth by Day, section
6, it says that the shawabti were required to do
whatever was requested of the deceased in the
afterlife. Thus, the shawabti were quite busy in
some cases.
Molefi Kete AsanteSee alsoAfterlife
Further Readings
Harrington, R. E., & White, V. (1997).Shawabti.
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
Mackenzie, D. A. (1978).Egyptian Myths and Legends.
New York: Gramercy.
Shaw, I., & Nicholson, P. (1995).The Dictionary of
Ancient Egypt. New York: Abrams.
SHILLUK
Living on the banks of the Nile River, near the city
of Malakal, the Chollo (“word of mouth”)
people, also known as Shilluk, are a major Nilotic
ethnic group in southern Sudan. They were
brought to their present location by the great
Shilluk leader and hero, Nyakang. The latter is
believed to represent a bridge between the Shilluk
and Juok, the supreme God. Furthermore, the
spirit of Nyakang is reincarnated in every Shilluk
king, also known as Reth. Juok is formless and
invisible and is everywhere at once. He is recog-
nized as the creator of all things, and Nyakang is
invoked with Juok. In this regard, Nyakang serves
as a mediator between the people and their god.
Reth, the Shilluk king, is the supreme spiritual and
temporal ruler and reigns by divine right as a
direct descendant of Nyakang, the founder and
first king of the Shilluk nation. In every king, there
is immanent the spirit of Nyakang, and this spirit
is transferred through the royal ceremonies of
death and installation from king to king. The cer-
emony is initiated with the sealing up of the
corpse of the deceased king in a special chamber
near the royal capital Fashoda; then the new Reth
is elected by the chiefs of the royal family and the
Wowo (burial and funeral dance for the deceased)
commences. Finally, Rony, the installation cere-
monies of the new king, begins with the bringing
of the Effigy of Nyakang and the sacred four-
legged stool from Akurwa, which is marched from
there to Fashoda, which represents Nyakang and
his son Dak. Upon entering Fashoda, the new
Reth is taken to the Shrine of Nyakang, where the
effigy is placed on the sacred stool, which is
shielded from the public by a canopy of white
cloth. Then the effigy is removed, and the king
takes his place on the stool. The ceremony ends
with the sacrifice of a bull, and the Reth then
enters his quarters and remains in seclusion for 10
days in solemn communion with Nyakang, whose
spirit he now incarnates. The king is thus imbued
with divine powers and serves at the center of reli-
gious activity of the nation. His destiny and health
act in response to the welfare of the people, and
his life is hedged round with ritual observances. In
this respect, the Shilluk people’s ceremonies are
conducted at the shrines of Nyakang. The two
major annual ceremonies are, first, the rainmak-
ing ceremony held before the rains at the new
moon, and, second, the harvest festival held when
dura is cut, which usually coincides with the end
of the rainy season. There is no true grave of
Nyakang because he did not die, but disappeared
in a great wind. Because every king is imbued
with the spirit of Nyakang, the worship rendered
at the royal shrines, which all resemble those ofShilluk 615