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Egyptian Antiquities :
Moulds : Egyptian clay mould for Ushabtis
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Egyptian clay mould for Ushabtis - ES.6391
Origin: Egypt
Circa: 664
BC
to 525
BC
Dimensions:
5.6" (14.2cm) high
x 3.1" (7.9cm) wide
x 1.2" (3.0cm) depth
Medium: Clay
Condition: Extra Fine
£4,000.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
clay mould for the production of
mummiform faience Ushabtis.
Ushabtis were funerary
figurines placed in tombs among the
grave goods and
were intended to act as substitutes
for the
deceased, should he be called upon
to do the manual
labour in the afterlife. They were
used from the
Middle Kingdom (around 1900 BC)
until the end of
the Ptolemaic Period, nearly 2000
years later.
Ushabtis were believed to magically
animate after the
dead had been judged, and work for
the dead
person as a substitute labourer in
the field of Osiris.
This is why they sometimes carry
hoes, to
execute the hard manual labours
mentioned in
Chapter VI of the Book of the Dead:
“whether it be to
plough the fields, or to fill the
channels with water, or
to carry sand from the East to the
West”.
Moulds are exceedingly rare, as they
can be found
only in the original ancient
workshops, were they
would have been used to make the
high number of
statuettes needed to fill the space
around the
sarcophagus in the burial chamber.
Moulds for the
production of Ushabtis are part of
the most
important collection of Egyptian
antiquities in the
world, including the Museum of Cairo
and the
Egyptian Museum of Turin. A positive
is provided
along with the purchase of the
mould.
- (ES.6391)
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