Art Institute of Chicago

Shabti (Funerary Figurine) of Nebseni

Egyptian; Thebes (modern Luxor), Egypt

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

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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