Ushabti
(redirected from Ushapti)The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Ushabti
a magic statuette made in the shape of a mummy or of a person with a pick or a hoe. Ushabti were placed in tombs in ancient Egypt. According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, the statuettes were supposed to take the place of the deceased in labors in the fields of Osiris in the next world. Incantations enumerating the labors were recited over the ushabti or written on them on behalf of the deceased.
REFERENCE
Rubinshtein, R. I. “O prirode ushebti.” Vestnik drevnei istorii, 1968, no. 2.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.