Ushabti

3D Model

Ushabti (also known as shabti) figures were funerary figures in Egypt. Their purpose was to spare the owner from manual labor in the afterlife. They frequently had inscriptions from the Book of the Dead. One such inscription reads: “O ushabti, if (name of deceased) be summoned to do any work which has to be done in the realm of the dead- to make arable fields, to irrigate the land or to convey sand from east to west; ‘Here I am’, you shal say, ‘I shall do it.’”

This Ushabti was made for “Sataiemhetp” and is holding a hoe and pick with a bag over its left shoulder. It is 191mm tall and made of light green faience. It has been dated to the Third Intermediate Period or later (from 1069 BCE onwards).

Photography & 3D modelling by Cole Kelly for the Oriental Museum.