Shabti box and shabtis of members of the Sennedjem tomb

From the New Kingdom forward, shabti figurines, who might number anywhere from one to over 400 in a single tomb, were intended to stand in for the departed anytime he or she was required to undertake manual labour in the hereafter. A variation of Spell 6 from the Book of Coming Forth by Day (commonly known as the Book of the Dead) is engraved on one of these examples: “O, shabti…if I am summoned…to undertake any job in the land of the dead…you shall act for me on all occasions of making arable the fields, of flooding the banks, and so on, ‘Here I am,’ you’ll say.” or of transporting sand from east to west: ‘Here I am,’ you’ll say.” (Adapted from William Faulkner’s The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead). The names of the deceased with whom they were associated are on the others.