I love ushabtis π ±πππππΎπͺ and so did my Nonno (we have so many pictures ππ ±ππ¦ of them)! During the Ramesside period and onward, due to the increasing number of ushabti π ±πππππΎ figures that people were buried with, the Egyptians πππππͺ started putting them in boxes! Like the example in the picture ππ ±π, the Ushabti Boxes were used to hold hundreds of ushabti π ±πππππΎ figures for the deceased π ππ±.
Much like sarcophagi, ushabti π ±πππππΎ boxes usually look different for different people! Some were only single compartment, but some ushabti π ±πππππΎ boxes could have up to three πΌ compartments full of the figures! Some were elaborately decorated, but this one is just a plain wooden π±ππΊ rectangular box with six πΏ columns of hieroglyphic text πππ₯ on the front. Unfortunately due to the angle of the picture ππ ±π, I canβt translate the text – but I can see the Offering Formula (πππ΅π) on the first column on the right! I can also see that some of the ushabtis π ±πππππΎπͺ have a dedication to Osiris πΉπ¨π on them!
Usually people were buried with over 400 π²π²π²π² of the figures – one for each day of the year. Fun Fact: the ancient Egyptians πππππͺ had calculated the year to be 365 π²π²π²πππππππΎ days, and then they revised it to 365.25 days – which is the actual length modern scientists calculated! How incredible is that?!
The ushabtis π ±πππππΎπͺ that you see in this box are worker ushabtis π ±πππππΎπͺ and you can tell because they are holding tools (πΊ) in their hands ππ¦! The remaining overseers ushabtis π ±πππππΎπͺ were there to make sure all of the others were doing their work!