Due to custom regulations we can not ship outside the E.U. Please make sure you have an EU shipping address before bidding. Ancient Egypt, faience Ushabti of Tious, son of Tay-te-der-ek. 27th-30th Dynasty, 525-341 BC On the body there are nine horizontal hieroglyphic writing registers, which are given to a dorsal column with no inscription. Translation of the text: ‘May the Osiris of Tius be enlightened, justified. Born of Tayderek, justified. He says: Oh! these ushebtis. If I am required. The Osiris of Tius, to do all the works to be done in the Hereafter, Here am I! Thou shalt say, to pull down the obstacles, to cultivate the fields, to irrigate the riparian lands, and to transport the sand from west to east and vice versa. here am I! you shall say.” Height ushabti: ± 13,5 cm Height including base: ± 15 cm Condition: good solid condition, brown toning with areas of turquoise glazing. Incomplete, part of the base is missing. The ushabti will be delivered with the display stand as shown on the pictures. Certificate of Authenticity: available upon request (pdf-format). Perhaps no single object epitomizes the spirit of Ancient Egypt better than the ushabti. Shaped like a divine mummy, the ushabti evokes the magical side of the Egyptian belief in an afterlife, while the pick and hoes clutched in the hands, as well as the seed bag slung over his shoulder, recall the rural, agrarian culture of the land. The word ushabti literally means “the answerer.” The function of these little figures is described in Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead: “O this Ushabti! If (the deceased) is called upon to do hard labour in the hereafter, say thou: I am here.” The ushabti was expected to answer the call to work in place of the deceased, and this passage was frequently inscribed on the figures themselves. Originally, a single ushabti was placed in a given tomb; but by the New Kingdom, the statues had come to be regarded as servants and slaves for the deceased rather than as a substitute, and many might be found buried together, along with an overseer figure. In the course of Egyptian history, ushabti were created from wood, stone, metal, and faience. In the cultural renaissance of the 26th Dynasty, also known as the Saite Period (the time just before this work was produced), a green faience, the colour of the Nile and evocative of the verdant landscape in springtime, was particularly popular. Along the body of this ushabti is inscribed ten rows of hieroglyphic text. Such inscriptions generally offer prayers from the deceased and reveal the ushabti’s readiness to perform labour. To look upon this ushabti is to come face to face with the mystery and magic of Egypt itself.