Tuesday 26/November/2024 – 10:08 AM
The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir displays a group of Ushabti statues found in the Tanis cemetery, dating back to the era of Psusennes I and Osorkon II. It is displayed in the Treasures of Tanis and Psusennes exhibition halls.
The administration of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir said, in a statement, that the word “ushabti” is derived from the ancient Egyptian verb “washab,” meaning to respond or answer, and hence the name of the ushabti statues, meaning “answering statues.”
Information about Ushabti statues
She pointed out that Ushabti statues began to be placed in tombs starting in the Old Egyptian Kingdom, around 2600 – 2100 BC, and they were in the form of life-sized heads made of colored limestone. Over time, they took the shape of the entire body, but in the form of small statues, and their purpose was to be buried with… The deceased is in the cemetery so that you can perform various tasks in the fields of the other world in his place, such as planting, harvesting, and irrigation.
The administration of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir continued that religious texts were recorded on statues at stages of the history of ancient Egypt as a kind of symbolic service linked to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, starting from the Middle Kingdom. These statues increased in number during the ancient Egyptian eras until their number reached during the New Kingdom era. 365 statues, as many days as the year.
