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2015 March

King Tut Ushabti 1D.png

Outsourcing: Egyptian Afterlife style

Jeff Burzacott March 9, 2015

The ancient Egyptian idea of the afterlife included the nasty possibility that the dead might have to carry out agricultural labour.  Even the royals weren’t above being called upon to get their hands dirty in the hereafter.

However this unpleasantness could be avoided simply by creating small mummy-shaped figurines of the deceased to magically perform the work on behalf of their owner. These were called shabtis (later, ushabtis) and were a regular feature of tomb equipment from the Middle Kingdom to the Ptolemaic Period (around 1900 B.C. – 30 B.C.).

Originally the shabti acted as a substitute for its owner, but it later came to be regarded more as the dead man’s deputy or servant.

King Tutankhamun was buried with a staggering 413 shabti figures. This one, made from limestone, came from the ‘Treasury’ room of his tomb.

The king wears the royal nemes headdress, and bears the crook and flail, symbols of divine kingship.  The details are strikingly highlighted in black, with the only colour being the king’s pink lips.

Tutankhamun’s Afterlife helper  is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 61046).

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 Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.  NILE Magazine  June-July 2017 is out now. Inside: - The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse. - Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered. - World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery. - Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood. - The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt. - Aswan's powerful governors. - On This Day in Egyptology history. - Plus much more.   Click on the cover to subscribe.

Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.
NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:
- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.
- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.
- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.
- Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood.
- The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt.
- Aswan's powerful governors.
- On This Day in Egyptology history.
- Plus much more.

Click on the cover to subscribe.

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