Ushabti belonging to Isis (?)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Ushabti belonging to Isis (?)” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
This ushabti belonged to an ancient Egyptian person who may have been named Isis. The inscription is unclear.
Ushabtis are ancient Egyptian funerary figurines that were buried with a deceased person (the owner) and designed to perform tasks for them in the afterlife. They were usually inscribed with the owner’s name. They were believed to be “activated” when the deceased owner recited a portion of the Book of the Dead that explained the ushabti’s duties, which is sometimes inscribed on them (see 2019.354 for an example of this text). In such inscriptions, the deceased person is referred to as the “illuminated Osiris”—a gesture toward the hope that they would be resurrected like the god Osiris and everlasting like the sun.
Read on
Ushabtis were almost always made in sets so that there would be many figurines to serve the deceased person. A full set comprised 401 ushabtis: one “worker” ushabti for every day of the year, plus one “overseer” ushabti for every ten, to make sure the rest were doing their jobs.
You might sometimes see the word ushabti spelled as “shawabty” or “shabti”; these are the same type of object.
Harvard Art Museums
Details
- Accession number
- 1919.568
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
