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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti of Sati

This is the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ of Sati, and the Brooklyn Museum has two ๐“ป of them! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ dates to either the reign of Amenhotep III ๐“‡ณ๐“ง๐“Ž  or Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– (New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, c. 1390-1352 B.C.E.).

This piece is unique because of the color (I love the blue ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› accents) and extreme attention to detail – the process to make it was so labor intensive that only a few like these were made!! While Sati was not royal (the only title associated with her was โ€œmistress of the houseโ€), these ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ were clearly a royal gift just due to the craftsmanship that went into making it.

This ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is made out of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ and is mummiform in appearance, with the arms ๐“‚๐“ฆ crossed along the chest. In each hand ๐“‚๐“บ, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is holding a hoe and a basket. This indicates that the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ was meant to do some type of agricultural labor for the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰! The ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is also wearing a broad collar ๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“๐“Žบ๐“‹.