What is an ushabti?

But what was the function of this little figurine? It is an example of a shabti, also called ushabti, or shawabti.

The earliest shabtis occurred at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC. These early figures have been depicted as naked figurines made of wax (Fig. 1) and sometimes of Nile clay, without any attributes. Often, they were wrapped in mummy shrouds and placed into miniature coffins. T. Kohl, Diener für die Ewigkeit, 13. The body of a deceased had to remain intact to exist in the afterlife, and these figures seem to have been placed into tombs as an image of the dead individual, securing a life after death. In the beginning, these shabtis were either not inscribed at all, or solely bore the name of the deceased. T. Kohl, Diener für die Ewigkeit, 14. From the 12th dynasty (1985-1773 BC) onwards an offering formula, which we also find on funerary artifacts like stelae, was inscribed onto the figurines (Fig. 2).

In the 13th dynasty, the so-called ‘shabti spell’, in long and short versions, began to be used. The content of this spell shows that the function of shabtis had changed considerably by this time: in the spell the shabti is asked to carry out work in the place of the deceased person in the afterlife. Whenever the deceased is called to do work, the shabti is to step forward in their place and say: ‘Here I am!’.

Shabtis were now used as substitutes of the deceased, who should take over the work that would have to be carried out in the afterlife in the dead person’s stead. T. Kohl, Diener für die Ewigkeit, 14–15. An earlier variant of the shabti spell can be found in the coffin texts (CT 472), and later on the text also appears in the Book of the Dead (BD 6). The shabti spell was written on shabtis (Fig. 3) until the end of the Ptolemaic Period.

From the 21st dynasty onwards, the figurines were called ‘ushabti’ instead of ‘shabti’, deduced from the Egyptian verb ‘usheb’, which means ‘to answer’. T. Kohl, Diener für die Ewigkeit, 13. This term plays around with the text of the shabti spell, as the ushabti has to ‘answer’ with the words ‘here I am’, when called upon. The little figurines are thus called ‘the ones who answer’ (Fig. 3).

In general, ushabtis are thought to have been made in workshops, which were attached to temples or palaces. However, private workshops might have existed as well. The figurines could be made out of different materials. Besides the ones made from terracotta, like this one, we also find shabtis made out of wood, faience, bronze, glass and different types of stone. G. Janes, Shabtis. A Private View, xv.