USHABTI

The 'ushabti' (also called '''shabti''' or '''shawabti''', with a number of variant spellings) answered the call to perform menial duties a deceased Egyptian was thought to be liable to in the underworld. Mentioned first in spell 472 of the Coffin Texts^[1] they were included in the grave goods of the dead as small figurines since the reign of Mentuhotep II of the 11th Dynasty.^[2] Some think that originally they may have symbolically replaced genuine sacrificial burials, a somewhat improbable theory as centuries had passed between the last known sacrifical burials and the appearance of the ''ushabtis''. They were generally distinguished from other statuettes by being inscribed with the name of the deceased, his titles, and often with spell 472 of the Coffin Texts^[3] or the speech of the Shabti figure found in Chapter Six of the Book of the Dead: “Illumine the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth. Hail, Shabti Figure! If the Osiris Ani be decreed to do any of the work which is to be done in Khert-Neter, let everything which standeth in the way be removed from him- whether it be to plough the fields, or to fill the channels with water, or to carry sand from the East to the West. The Shabti Figure replieth: I will do it, verily I am here when thou callest”.^[4] In the 18th Dynasty during the reign of Amenhotep IV the figurines were inscribed with an offering addressed to the sun disk, Aten, rather than the traditional speech of the Shabti figure.
The ''ushabti'' was believed to magically animate after the dead had been judged, and work for the dead person as a substitute labourer in the fields of Osiris. From the New Kingdom on it was often referred to as ''servant''. It is thought by some that the term ''ushabti'' meant the "follower" or "answerer" in Ancient Egyptian because it "answered" for the deceased person and performed all the routine chores of daily life for its master^[5], though it would be difficult to reconcile this derivation with the form of ''shawabti''.^[6] The spelling ‘Shabti’ was used until the end of the New Kingdom (1075 b.c.), ‘Ushabti’ was employed through the Third Intermediate, Late, and Ptolemaic Period (1075-30 b.c.), and ‘Shawabti’ was mostly restricted geographically to the Thebaid.
From the 21st Dynasty on ushabtis became common and numerous in graves. In some tombs the floor was covered with a great many ushabti figurines, in others the ushabtis were neatly packed into ushabti boxes. At times 365 ushabti were placed in a deceased Ancient Egyptian's tomb, one for each day of the year, but pharaohs had considerably more of these servants than commoners, and king Taharqa had more than a thousand.^[7] Some tombs contained overseer ''ushabtis'' holding a flail, which were responsible for groups of ten ushabti each. These overseers became rare during the Late Period.
Ushabtis were mostly mummyform, but in the 18th Dynasty during the reign of Tuthmosis IV they began to be fashioned as servants with baskets, sacks, and other agricultural tools. They were made of clay, wood or stone^[5], early ones were sometimes also made from wax. Later figurines were often made of less perishable materials: stone, terracotta, metal, glass and, most frequently, glazed earthenware (faience). While ushabtis manufactured for the rich were often little works of art, the great mass of cheaply made ushabtis became standardised—made from single molds with little detail. Produced in huge numbers ushabtis are with scarabs the most numerous of all ancient Egyptian antiquities to survive.

Contents

References

Literature

External links

References

1. Coffin Text 472 in A. Gardiner, ''Egypt of the Pharaohs: An Introduction'', p.32
2. Ian Shaw, ''The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'', Oxford University Press 2003, p.170
3. Bob Brier, ''The Encyclopedia of Mummies'', Checkmark Books, 1998, p.186
4. Papyrus of Ani; Egyptian Book of the Dead
5. Brier, ''op. cit.'', p.186
6. Wendy Doniger, ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions'', Merriam-Webster 1999, p.1121
7. R. N. Longenecker, ''Life in the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message of the New Testament'', Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing 1998, p.28
8. Brier, ''op. cit.'', p.186

Literature

★ Harry M. Stewart: ''Egyptian Shabtis'', Princes Risborough 1995

★ Paul Whelan: ''Mere Scraps of Rough Wood?: 17th - 18th Dynasty Stick Shabtis in the Petrie Museum and Other Collections'', London 2007 ISBN 978-1906137007

External links

★ Funerary Statuettes

★ The ushabti: An existence of eternal servitude

★ Shabtis in private collections