Tag: ushabti

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Cartouche of Seti I

A wooden Ushabti and Scarabs that contain the cartouche of Seti I (The MET)

These are pieces that contain the cartouche of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ ! There is a wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ and a bunch of scarabs ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ๐“ช – some of my favorite types of artifacts!

One of my favorite things to see in museums are the wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures of Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ . While only about 700 ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ๐“ฒ of these wooden ๐“†ฑ๐“๐“บ ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures remain, it is estimated that Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  had over 1000 ๐“†ผ of them. What happened to the ones that are missing? They were used for firewood when Belzoni was excavating the tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰!

My Nonno frequently told me about this – he was not happy that artifacts were destroyed! Anytime Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  came up in conversation (which was often because he was one of my Nonnoโ€™s favorite pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ) my Nonno would say โ€œcan you believe some idiots used his ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ as torches??!!โ€

Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  remaining ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ are in museums throughout the world ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ and I have always been on the lookout for them whenever I go to a museum! Originally, my Nonno and I would always point them out to each other. Now whenever I see them, they are a reminder of my Nonno.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Before Ushabtis

Wax Figures were the precursors to the famous Ushabti figures. (The MET)

Before ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช evolved in the 12th Dynasty, wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figurines that looked like humans (and had their own mini coffins ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ๐“ฆ) were placed in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ช with the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ!

These precursor-ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช were made of beeswax and beeswax was said to have magical ๐“Ž›๐“‚“๐“„ฟ๐“œ powers of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ, resurrection, and regeneration. The figures are somewhat detailed and were wrapped in a linen cloth ๐“ฑ and placed in the mini-coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ. The coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ did not identify any role or jobs that the figure had (like the text on a ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ could identify what itโ€™s job was), but it did identify the name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. Sometimes even the standard Offering Formula (๐“‡“๐“๐“Šต๐“™ an offering the king gives) appeared on the mini-coffin ๐“‹ด๐“…ฑ๐“Ž›๐“๐“†ฑ as if it were a real one!

If these figures werenโ€™t workers, then what was their purpose? It is thought that this figure would take the place of the body should the body of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ be destroyed.

These particular wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figures belonged to Queen Neferu, who lived during the 11th Dynasty (c. 2051โ€“2030 B.C.E) during the reign of Montuhotep II ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. Her tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ had many of these wax ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Ž›๐“ธ๐“ฆ figures, however in general, not many similar ones have been found (in comparison to the amount of ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช that have been found)

Ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช evolved into the little worker figures we know today during the 12th Dynasty, but became very popular during the New Kingdom.

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabits and the Shabti Spell

Ushabti at The MET. The black text going down the center of the figure is the Shabti Spell

I have always loved and will always love ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures!! They are one of my absolute favorite things to see in museums, and that is probably because my Nonno loved ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช so much! He used to tell my sister and I stories about the ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช and I became enthralled with them so letโ€™s take a look at this little guy!!

This style of ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ is very common in the Third Intermediate Period. The figure is made of blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ with details in black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ paint ๐“‡จ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ญ๐“ธ๐“ฆ. Most ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures contained hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on them that were part of the โ€œShabti Spell,โ€ which is taken from chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. The spell was very formulaic and appears on many different ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช! Since space is very limited on these small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ๐“ช, this is a very shortened version of the spell!

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

๐“Šฉ๐“น – The Osiris
๐“ŽŸ๐“…„ – Nb-Hrw
๐“™๐“Šค – Justified (or โ€œTrue of Voiceโ€)

All together ๐“ˆ–๐“Š—, hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช read: โ€œThe Osiris, Nb-Hrw, Justified.โ€

The name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ, which in this case is โ€œNb-Hrw ๐“ŽŸ๐“…„,โ€ will always follow the epithet โ€œThe Osiris ๐“Šฉ๐“น.โ€ The reason why the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ is referred to as โ€œThe Osiris ๐“Šฉ๐“นโ€ is because the ancient Egyptians wanted to live forever ๐“Ž›๐“‡ณ๐“Ž› in the afterlife/Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, just like Osiris ๐“Šฉ๐“น! โ€œJustified/True of Voice ๐“™๐“Šค,โ€ meant that the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ lived an honest and true life ๐“‹น!