Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · figurine

Ushabti (Funerary Figurine) of Horudja

Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian), acc. 1890.30. Public domain (CC0). Copy archived by egyptianinscriptions.org with attribution; original at the holding institution.

Accession: 1890.30
Date: Late Period, Dynasty 30 (380–343 BCE)
Date range: 380 BCE – 343 BCE
Materials: ['Faience']
Repository: Art Institute of Chicago
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Cite & export

Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian), Ushabti (Funerary Figurine) of Horudja (1890.30). Egyptian Inscriptions Database. https://egyptianinscriptions.org/object/207931

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Description

To assure themselves a comfortable afterlife, Egyptians stocked their tombs with at least one figurine called an ushabti, who acted as a servant in the afterlife. The message carved on each of the figurines explained that if the deceased is called on to do any work in the afterlife, the ushabti will respond with “Here I am” and will do the job. Some tombs had as many as one ushabti for every day of the year and another 36 overseers to keep order. All but the poorest citizens provided themselves with some kind of funerary furnishings. Products for burial and the labor to produce them made up a large industry in Egypt.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A small mummiform funerary figure (ushabti) stands with hands held at the chest and wears a tripartite wig and a formal garment, with carved rows of hieroglyphic text across the torso and legs.

The object is a standing, human-shaped funerary figurine with a stylized mummiform body. The head is covered by a tripartite wig (three lobes/strands falling down the sides) and a serene, forward-facing face. Both arms are raised, hands held close to the chest in a conventional ushabti pose. The upper torso and lower body are covered with incised hieroglyphs arranged in horizontal lines; additional small decorative elements are visible around the upper chest/shoulder area. Near the base is a small foot/stand-like support. The surface appears light beige to pale greenish-beige with a worn/abraded look. No modern labels or other text are visible in the photograph. While the catalogue specifies faience, the pictured surface could be consistent with glazed ceramic/fired material, but the glaze quality cannot be verified from the image alone.

funerary unknown good

Materials ceramic-like body (possible faience as catalogued; glaze/color not confirmable)

Signs incised hieroglyphic text in multiple registers (exact signs unclear due to wear/low resolution) ×100

Visible text "Multiple lines of incised hieroglyphs across torso and legs; individual sign readings are unclear from this image resolution."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Multiple lines of incised hieroglyphs across torso and legs; individual sign readings are unclear from this image resolution.

Cross-references (1)

ARTIC-id 487 tier-2

About this record's data

From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.