Ushebti; Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty of Ramses II ca. 1250-1230 BC.

Ushebti; Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty of Ramses II ca. 1250-1230 BC.
White faience.
It presents earthy adhesions on the surface.
Measurements: 15 x 5 x 2,5 cm.
Figure of ushebti made in white faience, represented holding two hoes to cultivate the fields of Osiris.
cultivate the fields of Osiris in the afterlife. She wears
wig and only his hands, crossed on the chest, protrude from his mummy form, as the shroud covering the whole body. The body is inscribed with a vertical column of hieroglyphs, the translation reads: "Son of the King (Prince),
Shem Priest of Ptah, Khaemwaset". Khaemuast was the son of Ramses II, an important Ramesesid prince who was revered in his time as a magician.
as a magician. He has been referred to as the first Egyptologist because of his documented interest in the monuments of Egypt's Old Kingdom.
The ushebtis, Egyptian term meaning "those who respond", are small statuettes that, in Ancient Egypt, were deposited in the tombs as part of the grave goods of the deceased, and whose function was to replace him in the work to be done in the Hereafter. The ushabties placed in the trousseau were 365 figurines, one for each day of the year. In addition, 36 foremen could be added, who commanded each of the crews composed of 10 workers. Most were made of ceramic, wood or stone, although in the richest tombs they could be found carved in lapis lazuli. The oldest preserved examples come from the Middle Empire, although we already find references to them in texts from the end of the Ancient Empire. The ushebtis are, after the sacred scarabs, the most numerous and possibly the most characteristic pieces of Egyptian art that have survived to the present day. Throughout time they always maintained the same function in the religious field but, while during the Middle Empire they were conceived as the representation of their owner before Osiris in the work of tillage in the kingdom of the shadows, replicas therefore of the deceased, from the New Empire they came to be seen as servants or slaves of the latter, being made in large quantities. The faience is a ceramic material of vitreous finish widely used in ancient Egypt for the production of small statues, amulets, etc. because its chromatic range could imitate more expensive stones such as lapis lazuli.