About this artwork
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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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of Africa
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Culture
- Ancient Egyptian
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Title
- Ushabti (Funerary Figurine) of Horudja
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Origin
- Egypt
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Date
- 380 BCE–343 BCE
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Medium
- Faience
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Inscriptions
- Name: Hor-udja
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Dimensions
- 21.9 × 6.6 × 4.7 cm (8 5/8 × 2 5/8 × 1 7/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Miss Amelia B. Edwards
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Reference Number
- 1890.30
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/487/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
