Shawabti - Magical Workers

The ancient Egyptians believed that in the afterlife, if you make it there, you carry on as you did in life. So basically if you were a farmer when alive, you stayed a farmer after death and had to carry out your farming duties for all eternity...

...Not a very pleasant idea for most people.

So, how about having magical servants to do all your manual labor so you can finally relax in peace? That's where these figurines come in, a practice that started in the Middle Kingdom and continued up until the end of the Ptolemaic period.

These little statues were made with all different kinds of materials, including clay, stone, glass, metal, and wood. They were small in size and placed in the tomb with the deceased. Many of them were made for the same person, and some tomb floors were covered in them all around the coffin.

A spell would be cast on them so that in the afterlife they come alive and do the work in place of the deceased!

At first, they were shaped like a mummy, but then people started getting creative with them. Some were made to look like they're working, with baskets and tools. Some were carved with chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead.

Thousands of these figurines survive until now and fill up museum displays all over the world.

I'm thinking of getting me some too ;-)

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