Wooden tomb models were an Egyptian funerary custom throughout the Middle Kingdom Period, which saw wooden figurines and sets constructed to be placed in the tombs of Egyptian royalty. Such models reflected a variety of tasks and chores which servants were expected to carry out in the afterlife. A chapter from Osiris’ Book of the Dead highlights the continued significance of servitude after death: “when you are counted upon at any time to serve there, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the river banks, to ferry the sand of the west to the east and vice–versa, “here I am” you shall say.“ During the New Kingdom and into the Late Period, these wooden statuettes were replaced or developed into the Shabti form.
Bread and beer were particularly important in the Egyptian funerary context, representing the key elements of the offering formula prt–ḫrw. The term refers to the ‘invocation offerings’ which the deceased was called to partake, and is regularly written with the bread and beer signs. By the Middle Kingdom, the prt–ḫrw formula had become a fixed expression used to indicate the offerings themselves, assuming the more general meaning of ‘ritual offerings’.
To find out more about Egyptian funerary statuettes please see our relevant blog post: How Ancient Egyptian Shabtis and Funerary Statuettes Watched Over the Dead.
