Faience Ushabti of the Late Period (Egypt)

Servants of the Afterlife

Ushabtis — from the Egyptian word meaning "answerer" — were funerary statuettes placed in tombs to perform agricultural labour on behalf of the deceased in the realm of Osiris. This blue-green faience example dates to Egypt's Late Period, when ushabti production reached its zenith in quality and quantity. The hieroglyphic inscription reads Spell 6 from the Book of the Dead: "O ushabti, if the deceased is called upon to do work in the realm of the dead, say: I will do it, here I am."

Faience Technology

Faience — a glazed non-clay ceramic of powdered quartz — was one of the most important materials in ancient Egyptian art. Its brilliant blue-green colour was associated with fertility, rebirth, and the Nile. Craftsmen produced ushabtis by pressing faience into moulds; the finest examples bear crisp, finely incised hieroglyphs covering the entire body.

Provenance

This piece originates from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian collection and is part of the museum's Open Access CC0 holdings. Full archaeological context and museum registration accompany the record.