Shabti (Funerary Figurine) of Nebseni

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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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.

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Object type
AAT300234126

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