My Nonno always spoke very highly of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at UCL in London. As a kid 𓐍𓇌𓀕, he would always tell me that they had “drawers and drawers full of ushabtis” and it just sounded so cool to me! I wanted to visit so badly!
When we got to visit the museum together 𓈖𓊗, it was like a dream come true! It was VERY COOL to be able to open the drawers in the cabinets and be greeted by ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪!
We spent hours at the museum going through everything and I spent the most time with the ushabtis 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾𓏪 (no surprise there)!!
The Petrie Museum has quite the collection of ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 and they are representative of a lot of the differing styles of ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 through different time periods in Egyptian history. Most of the photos are representative of more “classical” ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 from the 20th Dynasty forward (made of faience 𓋣𓈖𓏏𓏸𓏼, stone 𓇋𓈖𓂋𓊪 or terracotta 𓊪𓈖𓋴𓈇), while the picture below shows the “stick ushabtis.”
Stick ushabtis 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾𓏪 (17th to the beginning of the 18th Dynasty) are made of wood 𓆱𓏏𓏺, have a roughly mummiform shape, no artistic details, and have an inscription 𓏟𓏛𓏥 on the front. The function of these stick ushabtis 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾𓏪 also seems to be different than that of the regular ushabtis 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾𓏪 that are found in tombs 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐𓏦 whose function was to perform tasks for the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. The stick ushabtis 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾𓏪 have only been found in Thebes 𓌀𓏏𓊖, in the above ground chapels that were found near tombs 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐𓏦, not inside the tomb 𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐!
The stick ushabtis 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾𓏪 most likely represented the family members of the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱, and were placed in the above ground chapel as a way to symbolize family members being close to their dead 𓅓𓏏𓏱 loved one.
