Figure "ushebti" ·  Africa-Antiques, Egypt · ID: 3038730

Description

pale green stone ware, the front hieroglyphic inscription is a magic spell from the “Book of the Dead”, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion;
the “ushebti” (also called “shabti” or “shawabti”, with a number of variant spellings) are funerary figurines, which were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as substitutes for the deceased. They were used from the Middle Kingdom (around 1900 B.C.) until the end of the Ptolemaic Period nearly 2000 years later.