Ushabti belonging to Tashedkhonsu

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. 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.

This ushabti is made from a silica-based ceramic known today as faience, which the ancient Egyptians called tjehenet, the “shiny thing” or “gleaming thing.” Faience was made from silica derived from quartz or sand, lime, natron or plant ash, and a mineral colorant—all mixed with water to form a paste. The blue-green color of this ushabti comes from the addition of copper to the paste. In the ancient Egyptian worldview, blue and green were associated with rebirth and regeneration, making blue-green faience an especially appropriate material for funerary objects.