Ushebti for Takasa. Ancient Egypt, 19th dynasty, 295 to 1186 BC.

Ushebti for Takasa. Ancient Egypt, 19th dynasty, 295 to 1186 BC.
Fayenza.
Provenance: Italian private collection, acquired on the art market in France on February 26, 1999.
It has a repaired foot.
Measurements: 11.2 cm (height).

Ushebti of mummiform form for Takasa, with tripartite wig. The details of the face are highlighted in black, like those of the rest of the piece. The arms are crossed from left to right across the chest and the hands hold a pair of hoes painted black.

The ushebtis are small statuettes that were deposited in the tombs as part of the grave goods of the deceased. 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. 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.