My Nonno always spoke very highly of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at UCL in London. As a kid ๐๐๐, he would always tell me that they had โdrawers and drawers full of ushabtisโ and it just sounded so cool to me! I wanted to visit so badly!ย
When we got to visit the museum together ๐๐, 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 ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช!
We spent hours at the museum going through everything and I spent the most time with the ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ๐ช (no surprise there)!!ย
The Petrie Museum has quite the collection of ushabtis ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช and they are representative of a lot of the differing styles of ushabti ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ through different time periods in Egyptian history. Most of the photos are representative of more โclassicalโ ushabtis ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช from the 20th Dynasty forward (made of faience ๐ฃ๐๐๐ธ๐ผ, stone ๐๐๐๐ช or terracotta ๐ช๐๐ด๐), while the picture below shows the โstick ushabtis.โย
Stick ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ๐ช (17th to the beginning of the 18th Dynasty) are made of wood ๐ฑ๐๐บ, have a roughly mummiform shape, no artistic details, and have an inscription ๐๐๐ฅ on the front. The function of these stick ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ๐ช also seems to be different than that of the regular ushabtis ๐ ฑ๐๐๐๐ญ๐พ๐ช that are found in tombs ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ whose function was to perform tasks for the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ in the afterlife ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐. The stick ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ๐ช have only been found in Thebes ๐๐๐, in the above ground chapels that were found near tombs ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ, not inside the tomb ๐๐ซ๐๐!
The stick ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ๐ช most likely represented the family members of the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ, and were placed in the above ground chapel as a way to symbolize family members being close to their dead ๐ ๐๐ฑ loved one.
