Perhaps no single object epitomizes the spirit
of ancient Egypt better than the ushabti.
Shaped like a divine mummy, the ushabti
evokes the magical side of Egyptian belief in
an afterlife. The two hoes clutched in the
hands and the basket carried on the back
recall the rural, agrarian culture of the land.
The word ushabti (supplanting the older term
shawabti) literally means "the answerer." The
function of these little figures is described in
Chapter VI of the Book of the Dead: "O this
Ushabti! If (the deceased) is called upon to do
hard labor in the hereafter, say thou: I am
here." The ushabti was expected to answer
the call to work in place of the deceased, and
this passage was frequently inscribed on the
figures themselves. Originally, a single ushabti
was placed in any given tomb. But by the New
Kingdom the statues had come to be regarded
as servants and slaves for the deceased,
rather than as a substitute. Many have been
found buried together, along with an overseer
figure. In the course of Egyptian history,
ushabti were created from wood, stone, metal
and faience. In the cultural renaissance of the
XXVIth Dynasty (Saite period), a green
faience, the color of the Nile and evocative of
the verdant landscape in springtime, was
particularly popular. To look upon an ushabti is
to come face to face with the mystery and
magic of Egypt itself.
- (CK.0143)
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