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ushabti
Sign in to saveAlso known as shabti, shawabti
thumb|300px|right|Memphis, Egypt|Memphis, 500 BC – Troop of funerary servant figures ushabtis in the name of Neferibreheb, [[Louvre-Lens]] thumb|260px|Four ushabtis of Khabekhnet and their box; 1279–1213 BC; painted limestone; height of the ushabtis: 16.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art thumb|Ushabti Figurine, Albert Hall Museum The ushabti (also called shabti or shawabti, with a number of variant spellings) was an ancient Egyptian funerary figurine. The Egyptological term is derived from , which replaced earlier , perhaps the nisba of "Persea tree".
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Article
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology and usage of the terms
- Inscriptions
- Usage
- Shape and material
- See also
- Individual Ushabtis
- Other Burial Figurines
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|300px|right|Memphis, Egypt|Memphis, 500 BC – Troop of funerary servant figures ushabtis in the name of Neferibreheb, [[Louvre-Lens]] thumb|260px|Four ushabtis of Khabekhnet and their box; 1279–1213 BC; painted limestone; height of the ushabtis: 16.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art thumb|Ushabti Figurine, Albert Hall Museum The ushabti (also called shabti or shawabti, with a number of variant spellings) was an ancient Egyptian funerary figurine. The Egyptological term is derived from , which replaced earlier , perhaps the nisba of "Persea tree".
Ushabtis were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as servants or minions for the deceased, should they be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife. The figurines frequently carried a hoe on their shoulder and a basket on their backs, implying they were intended to farm for the deceased. They were usually written on by the use of hieroglyphs typically found on the legs. They carried inscriptions asserting their readiness to answer the gods' summons to work.