Ushabti of Pa-dj-jmen-nisut-[netjeru]

Ushabti (meaning "answerers"), also called "shawabti," which resemble miniature mummies, were made of different materials such as wood or Egyptian faience (ceramic-like material). These funerary statuettes represent the individual whom they accompanied into the tomb and the afterlife. If a god called on the deceased to perform labor in the afterlife, this servant substitute, magically invoked by a traditional spell, would answer and do the work on behalf of the tomb's owner.

This ushabti-figure displays its owner with a long wig and a divine beard (a long chin beard with a curved lower end), with hoes in his hands for the work in the fields. Two columns of inscriptions are on his frontal body below the arms.

Inscription

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.