Ushebti. Ancient Egypt. New Empire, c. 1552 - 1069 BC.

Ushebti. Ancient Egypt. New Empire, c. 1552 - 1069 B.C.
Wood.
Provenance: Italian private collection. Beppe Berna, Arti Tribali Archeologia, purchased in 2000.
Good state of preservation.
Measurements: 27,8 cm (height).

Ushebti of mummiform form with tripartite wig. The arms are crossed from left to right on the chest.
The ushebtis are small statuettes that were deposited in the tombs as part of the funerary trousseau of the deceased. The oldest preserved specimens come from the Middle Empire, although we already find references to them in texts from the end of the Ancient Empire. Throughout time they always maintained the same function in the religious sphere but, while during the Middle Empire they were conceived as the representation of their owner before Osiris in the tasks of tillage in the kingdom of the shadows, replicas of the deceased, from the New Empire onwards they came to be seen as servants or slaves of the deceased, being made in large quantities.