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Wooden Ushabti of Rameses II – Video

Wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ Ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ of Rameses II ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– (New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1292-1190 B.C.E.).ย 

The text ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is a version of the โ€œShabti Spellโ€ from Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. This spell gives the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ the power to complete tasks (farming, manual labor, etc) for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–. 

Wooden Ushabti of Rameses II
Me with the Wooden Ushabti of Rameses II at the Brooklyn Museum

This ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is mummiform meaning that it looks like a mummy/the god ๐“Šน Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is holding a holding the crook ๐“‹พ and flail ๐“Œ… and is wearing the  nemes head cloth ๐“ˆ–๐“…“๐“‹ด. 

Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ was plundered in the 20th Dynasty, and only three ๐“ผ of his wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures remain! 

In 1049 B.C.E., the High Priest of Amun ordered Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ be moved from his original tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ and to the Royal Cache, a place where many royal ๐“‹พ mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช were re-buried in order to protect the mummies ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ๐“ช from tomb robbers. 

While the provenance of this ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is unknown, it is assumed that it was originally from Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“‡ณ๐“‰๐“ˆ– original tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ (KV 7).ย 

Wooden Ushabti of Rameses II
Wooden Ushabti of Rameses II on display at the Brooklyn Museum

This is my personal video and original text. DO NOT repost. 

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