Ushabti, Dynasty XIX (?), part of the burial equipment of “The Lady of the
House, the Chantress of Amon, Aay.” Ushabtiu were placed in the tomb to
answer for the deceased when called upon to labor in the afterworld. The
inscription reads: “To illuminate the Osiris, the Lady of the House, Aay,
beatified in peace. He says: O this ushabti, if one be drafted to do all
the labors which are performed in the underworld—the Osiris, the Lady of
the House, Aay, beatified, in peace—to cultivate the fields, to irrigate
the banks, to carry the sand of the east to the west, behold, there will
be smitten down ...” Here the text, which is part of Chapter VI of the
Book of the Dead, breaks off because the available space was filled. It
omits final instructions to the ushabti to reply, should the deceased be
drafted, “Behold, here am I!” and thereupon relieve the deceased Lady of
the House of the onerous task of laboring in the fields.
[Cover of a Canopic Jar, Terracotta]