This is one of the more interesting pieces that I have ever seen in a museum! I donโt believe I have seen anything like it outside of the Petrie Museum in London! It combines two of my favorite things – ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ and Egyptian jewelry!
This broad collar ๐ ฑ๐ด๐๐บ๐ is dated to the 21st Dynasty (Third Intermediate Period c. 1069 – 747 B.C.E.). There are 62 ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ป faience ๐ฃ๐๐๐ธ๐ผ ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ that make up their broad collar ๐ ฑ๐ด๐๐บ๐ and they come in green ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ and blue ๐๐น๐๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฅ colors! The ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ are about 4cm in height so they are pretty tiny! I love tiny things so tiny ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ to me are just so cute!! There are also beads of many different colors that adorn the broad collar ๐ ฑ๐ด๐๐บ๐.
Normally, ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ were buried with the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ and were meant to be their servants in the afterlife ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐. I do not know if the ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ in this broad collar are supposed to be worker ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ or are for adorning a mummy ๐๐น๐ ฑ๐พ for burial!
Normally ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ are buried in shabti boxes and inscribed with a spell that tells you what their function was. When Osiris ๐น๐จ ๐ญ called upon the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ for labor, the deceased would say the spell on the ushabti ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ and it would come to life and perform the labor in place of the deceased ๐ ๐๐ฑ!
As a kid I really loved ushabtis ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฎ๐พ because they reminded me of little dolls and my Nonno used to tell me stories about them! He loved them too and he made leaning about them so much fun!