223 - Ushebti for Prince Khaemwaset; Egypt, New Kingdom, reign of Ramses II, 1279–1213 B.C.

Ushebti for Prince Khaemwaset; Egypt, New Kingdom, reign of Ramses II, 1279–1213 B.C. Faience. Measurements: 15 cm tall. Provenance: Family legacy of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection formed from the 1950s by successive generations of the family, through acquisitions in European galleries and auction houses. Egyptian ushabti made of faience, with traces of turquoise glaze, made for Prince Jaemuaset or Khaemwaset (c. 1281–1225 B.C.), the fourth son of Pharaoh Ramses II and the second son he had with his second Great Royal Wife, Queen Isis-Nefert. He is currently the best-known of this pharaoh’s sons, as his contributions to the Egyptian people were remembered for centuries. In fact, he has been described by historians as the first Egyptologist, due to his projects to identify and restore historic buildings, tombs, and temples. He was also a prominent diplomat, as well as high priest of the god Ptah and governor of Memphis, in addition to being crown prince toward the end of his life. He died in the 55th year of his father’s reign, and his tomb, located in the Serapeum of Saqqara, was discovered by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in the mid-19th century. In later periods of Egyptian history, Jaemuaset was remembered as a sage and even portrayed as a hero in a cycle of stories from the Greco-Roman era. Ushebti figurines are small statues that were placed in tombs as part of the deceased’s grave goods. The oldest surviving examples date from the Middle Kingdom, although references to them can already be found in texts from the late Old Kingdom. Over time, they always retained the same religious function; however, while during the Middle Kingdom they were conceived as representations of their owner before Osiris in the tasks of tilling the land of the shadows—and thus replicas of the deceased—from the New Kingdom onward they came to be seen as the deceased’s servants or slaves, and were produced in large quantities.