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A shabti is a funerary figurine used by the ancient Egyptians. These statuettes were placed in tombs as grave goods and were believed to function as servants for the deceased in the afterlife. Shabtis are human / mummy in form, and may be made using a variety of materials, including faience, clay, or wax. Shabtis were used during different periods of ancient Egyptian history, perhaps starting from the end of the First Intermediate Period / beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Today, shabtis are found in the collections of many museums around the world. Shabtis are also referred to as ‘ushabti’ (statuettes made from the 21st Dynasty onwards) or ‘shawabti’ (those from Thebes during the New Kingdom). There are different hypotheses