Ushabti or Shabti?

Seeing ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 figures in museums will always bring me back to seeing them with my Nonno as a kid. Just like with the Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 statues 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓀾𓏪, he was always so excited to show my sister 𓌢𓈖𓏏𓁐 and I the ushabti 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 figures and tell us all about them. I wish I could hear Nonno tell his ushabti stories again. I miss listening to him speak about ancient Egypt and ancient history more than anyone can even realize. He was always so passionate when he spoke about these things, and I think I get that from him because other people tell me that I am the same way.

Many people debate if the word is “shabti” or “ushabti,” when in reality, both pronunciations would be correct because it appears both ways in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 too! “𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾 usbty” is where “ushabti” comes from and  “𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 sawabti” is where “shabti” comes from! My Nonno always said “Ushabti 𓅱𓈙𓃀𓏏𓏭𓀾” so that is what I tend to use as well!

Here are some other variations for “ushabti” in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪 that aren’t used as much as the ones I have listed above. These variants are basically shortened versions of 𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 or just use a different determinative!

𓆷𓃀𓏏𓏮

𓆷𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾

𓆷𓄿𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀭

𓆷𓄿𓍯𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀭

𓆷𓄿𓍯𓄿𓃀𓏲𓍘𓇋𓆱 (the 𓆱 symbol as a determinative is interesting – probably because wooden 𓆱𓏏𓏺 ushabtis were popular in the 19th Dynasty).

The text 𓏟𓏛𓏥 on the blue 𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸𓏥 faience 𓋣𓈖𓏏𓏸𓏼 ushabti 𓆷𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 is a version of the “Shabti Spell” from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. This spell 𓎛𓂓𓏛 gives the ushabti 𓆷𓃀𓏏𓏮𓀾 the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 in the Field of Reeds 𓇏𓏏𓈅𓇋𓄿𓂋𓅱𓆰𓊖.

The “Shabti Spell” usually starts off with the following phrase: 

𓋴𓌉𓆓𓇶 – The Illuminated One

𓁹𓊨𓀭 – The Osiris

Then the “Shabti Spell” will usually list the deceased’s 𓅓𓏏𓏱 job/titles: 

𓏟 – Scribe

𓉒 – Treasury

So this specific ushabti’s spell starts off with “The Illuminated One, The Osiris, The Scribe of the Treasury…”