Shabtis or ushabtis were small figurines buried with the deceased, intended to carry out menial labour on their owner’s behalf in the afterlife. To reflect this function, they are usually depicted in the form of a mummy holding tools in their hands – baskets, mattocks and hoes. Shabtis are among the most numerous of Egyptian antiquities, as they played a major role in funeral rites. A typical elite burial would contain hundreds of shabtis. Many shabtis are inscribed with the title and name of the owner. Some were even inscribed with a spell in which the deceased summons the shabtis to work. The “Shabti spell” is taken from chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead and is also attested in the coffin text spell 472.
“The illuminated one, the Osiris, [title and name of the deceased], justified, born to [mother or father’s name], justified. He speaks:
O shabti figure(s)
If [name of the deceased] is called up to do any work that is done there in the underworld
Then the checkmarks (on the work list) are struck for him there
As for a man for his (work service) duty
Be counted yourself at any time that might be done
To cultivate the marsh, to irrigate the riverbank fields
To ferry sand to west or east
I am doing it, see, I am here, you are to say”
To discover more about Egyptian shabtis, please visit our relevant blog post: How Ancient Egyptian Shabtis and Funerary Statuettes Watched Over the Dead.
