Art Institute of Chicago
Shabti (Funerary Figurine) of Nebseni
Egyptian; Thebes (modern Luxor), EgyptLinkedCulture matchlcp-228a4502183e
- Date
- New Kingdom, early Dynasty 18, about 1570 BCE
- Medium
- Wood (tamarisk) and pigment
- Culture
- Egypt
- Department
- Arts of Africa
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 120268
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
To assure themselves a comfortable afterlife, Egyptians stocked their tombs with at least one figurine called an ushabti, who acted as a servant in the afterlife. The message carved on each of the figurines explained that if the deceased is called on to do any work in the afterlife, the ushabti will respond with “Here I am” and will do the job. Some tombs had as many as one ushabti for every day of the year and another 36 overseers to keep order. All but the poorest citizens provided themselves with some kind of funerary furnishings. Products for burial and the labor to produce them made up a large industry in Egypt.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
- Provenance
- Mohammed Mohasseb (1843-1928), Luxor, Egypt; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1892; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1892.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300234126
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