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 Replies: 9 / Views: 3,441 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
Some of you may have seen the thread I posted recently about starting to collect antiquities. First of all I want to thank everybody for all the great advice I received, it was very helpful, and the world of antiquities is very fascinating! I decided to start with Egypt, I've always had a love for egyptian history, and decided to start there. This is an Ushabti, these were figurines that were placed into tombs to serve the dead in the afterlife, in the older days of Egypt they would sacrifice servants and slaves to serve the dead in the afterlife, but as they became a little more civilized they switched to using figurines, a much more humane way to still get the cozy afterlife that they all desired. This Ushabti, like many Egyptian artifacts, is made of faience, a tin glazed ceramic, that was normally glazed blue, a color prized by the Ancient Egyptians. I got this particular Ushabti because it has traces of heirglyphs on the bottom, which I intend to start deciphering very soon! And will hopefully get back with an update on that. You can see in the photo that there has been some damage to the piece, and that a break in the bottom has been repaired, but overall I'm quite happy with this piece, and a lot more of the blue coloration is preserved than the photo would suggest! By the way anybody who has any experience reading Egyptian Heiroglyphs please contact me as I'm sure I will need all the help I can get.  |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Very interesting piece. Though I have to admit because of their beliefs and how they like to put curses on tomb objects. I wouldn't touch one of these with a 10 foot pole.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2134 Posts |
I don't think this is the right forum, however, good for you.
I hope you're buying from a reputable dealer; when I lived in London (England), I saw lots of fakes, some tourist souvenirs, some replicas, many modern fakes, some older fakes, as well as genuine pieces.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
We really don't have a section here for ancient artifacts. But I have allowed it because of being related to an ancient civilization.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
567 Posts |
I posted it because in my thread I posted about antiquities there were people who asked to see what I ended up acquiring, which is why I posted it here. I bought it from a reputable dealer and am certain of it's authenticity.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
Nice item and nice pics too.
Since it's faience in the classic crossed-arms-holding-scepter-and-flail posture, I suppose this is 26th dynasty? Did the seller give you much of an attribution?
The inscription catches my attention as it did yours. Might we see a close up?
What is the height of the piece?
Thanks for letting us see it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Really exceptional ushabti, Arael. Congrats! I used to own one, but sold it a long while back:  I hope you'll continue to share pics of new acquisitions with us. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
567 Posts |
Thanks for all the replies guys! Irbguy this is indeed from the 26th Dynasty, dating back to right around 600 B.C. It was attributed to 26th Dynasty, but past that nothing, he noted that there were traces of hieroglyphs but did not decipher them , which I can see why because they are pretty faint, I tried to get a better picture for you but was unable to get one better than the photo I already posted, I'll sit down tomorrow and try to capture them in detail, but they are pretty faint and deciphering them is going to be a real challenge! The piece measures 12.5 cm or almost 5 inches. I'm surprised how much coloration was left on your Ushabti Bob! That's a pretty impressive piece, thanks for sharing it with us, and I will continue to update on my acquisitions, in the same purchase as the Ushabti I also got a wedjat eye or eye of horus amulet made of faience, with very nice preservation of color, as well as a scarab seal. The Ushabti was definitely the main part of the purchase, but picked up the amulet and scarab seal to provide a decent start to my Egyptian collection. I'm attaching photos of both.    |
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
a nice begin for an collection of Egyptian antiquities .For the ushabti , I think you have to date it a little later . The 26th dynastic was the period of the Saitic renaissance and the quality is normally better , even for ushabtis for common people . It is dated by the form of the inscription in T , wich indicates the later period . The inscription mentions the name of the dead and his affiliation . Egyptian is not easy to read and even more difficult to translate . The problem with inscriptions in this faience ushabtis is that the signs are often very bad to interpret. You can find more details in Alan Gardiner,Egyptian Grammar and Raymond Faulkner,A concise dictionary of Middle Egyptian .The language used for this kind of inscriptions is normally the Middle Egyptian , the evolution of the Egyptian spoken un the Middle Kingdon ( about 2000 - 1780 BC ).
The wedjat eye is typical late period .
Most scarabs are from the Hyksos period ( about 1780 - 1520 BC) on , before there are few and very expensive .This one is New Kingdom are later .If you send me good pictures of the body , the head and the sides (the legs ) ,I can give you a better datation . For the inscription , on the first vieuw it is a good luck formula , often on scarabs .albert
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Valued Member
Canada
93 Posts |
Arael,
You have a fantastic collection!
Thanks for sharing. :)
Erin
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Replies: 9 / Views: 3,441 |
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Posted 12/10/2015 3:05 pm
