Ushabti were funerary figurines
placed in tombs among the grave
goods in Ancient Egypt and were
intended to act as servant figures
that carried out the tasks required
of the deceased in the underworld.
Very often they carry inscriptions
in hieroglyphs, typically
concentrated on the lower part of
the body.
The practice of using ushabtis
originated in the Old Kingdom (c.
2600 to 2100 BCE) with the use
of life-sized reserve heads made
from limestone, which were buried
with the mummy. Most ushabtis
were though of a reduced size, and
many were produced in multiples;
sometimes they were thus
numerous as to fill the floor of the
chamber around the sarcophagus.
Exceptional ushabtis are of larger
size and were produced as a one
of-a-kind master work.
The term shabti applies to these
figures prior to the 21st dynasty of
Egypt but after the end of the First
Intermediate Period, and really
only to those figurines inscribed
with Chapter Six of the Book of the
Dead. The term ushabti became
prevalent after the 21st Dynasty
and remained in use until
Ptolemaic times.
Otherwise, the best term by which
they might better be defined,
although generic, would be
funerary figurines.
The ushabtis were not effective
because of their artistry but were
effective because of the
inscriptions they bore, as a result
of the Ancient Egyptian belief that
anything written down was true,
as writing was thought to change
wishes and thoughts into actions.
Therefore, it was necessary for the
owner's name to be inscribed on
an ushabti, along with a phrase
sending the ushabti into action.
Ushabtis were mostly
mummiform, but during the
Dynasty XVIII reign of Thutmose
IV, they began to be fashioned as
servants with baskets, sacks, and
other agricultural tools, implying
that they were intended to farm
for the deceased.
Early ushabtis were sometimes
made from wax, though later
figurines were often made of less
perishable materials such as stone,
terracotta, metal, glass and, most
frequently, glazed earthenware
(faiance).
While ushabtis manufactured for
the rich were often miniature
works of art, very beautiful in form
and colour, the great mass of
cheaply made ushabtis were the
results of a standardised
production, made from single
molds with very little detail.
The usbabti in our collection dates
to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of
Egypt, which was the last native
dynasty to rule Egypt before the
Persian conquest in 525 BC The
dynasty's reign (664–525 BC) is
also called the Saite Period after
the city of Sais, where pharaohs
had their capital, and marks the
beginning of the Late Period of
ancient Egypt.
- (CB.55)
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