- Ushebti -
Ushebti is the rendering into modern language of one of several Ancient Egyptian words (image) used to denote the often mummy-shaped statue that was buried with the deceased. Other words, based on the same verbal root, are Shabti and Shawabti. These words can all be translated as "the one who answers", a reflection on the particular function of this type of statue.
The oldest known examples of Ushebti dated to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, but it is not unlikely that the Ka-statues and the servant-statues of the Old Kingdom can be considered as the early predecessors of Ushebtis.
The early Middle Kingdom Ushebtis were very simple and crude statues made of wax or mud, representing a completely naked person. They would have the same sex as the deceased with whom they were buried. Their arms were stretched along their bodies and they were mummified like the deceased and put into small coffins.
These crude and simple figurines soon evolved into mummy-shaped statues made of stone, wood or faience, an evolution due to the growing importance of the mummy in the religious convictions concerning life after death.
Some of the earliest Ushebtis were inscribed with the names of the deceased, but most were left uninscribed. From the 12th Dynasty on, the inscription slowly evolved into an offering-formula and from the beginning of the 13th Dynasty, this formula would become the basis for the typical formula found on so many Ushebtis from the Late Dynastic Period and the Greek-Roman Era. This formula explains the purpose and the task of the Ushebti and usually has the following parts:
Sometimes an extra paragraph was added to the formula that was to prevent the Ushebti from performing any task for anybody else than for the deceased for whom they had been created.
An important difference between Ushebtis and servant-statues needs to be stressed at this point: the servant-statues were there to attend to the personal needs of the deceased, whereas the Ushebtis were there to replace the deceased when he was called upon to work.
In order to perform all their tasks correctly, the Ushebtis were given the necessary tools from the New Kingdom on: picks, hoes, ploughs, ... The earliest examples of this practice would have small models of tools placed with the Ushebtis, but from the later half of the 18th Dynasty, it would be common to place these tools in their hands.
The earliest royal Ushebtis that have been found also are dated to the 18th Dynasty. They were more elaborate and often made of better materials, such as alabaster and plated with gold, but they still served the same purpose.
The number of Ushebtis placed in a tomb has changed with time as well. By the end of the 18th Dynasty, there was one Ushebti per day in a year, totalling 365 Ushebtis per tomb. During the 19th Dynasty, the number is increased with an overseer, sometimes one for all the Ushebtis, but sometimes one per 10 days, which would have the number of Ushebtis total to 401 or 402!
This overseer had to make sure that the Ushebtis performed their tasks as required. He can be recognised by his specific tools: a stick and a whip. Due to their vast number, the individual Ushebtis no longer had their own coffins, but were placed together in shrine-shaped boxes.
By the end of the New Kingdom and during the beginning of the Late Dynastic Period, Ushebtis were often mass-produced, which is reflected in their often poor quality. The material preferred for this mass-production was faience. The inscriptions were roughly painted and sometimes hard to read.
Museums and antiquity shops are stacked with Ushebtis, of varying quality.
Some nice ushebtis, and their case, were made for the Lady Henut-Mehit during the 19th Dynasty. They are now on display in the British Museum in London.
