Archaeological Museum of Bologna

The two sarcophagi, one internal and one external, and the mummy pertain to Usai, son of Nekhet, who lived in Thebes during the 26th dynasty.

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Usai’s mummy, still wrapped in bandages, is now protected by netting with faïence amulets that the Egyptians thought could preserve the body from any type of deterioration, screening it.

The four alabaster Canopic jars, with lids shaped like human heads, contained the viscera removed during the mummification process. The ushabti– and there could be hundreds of them in the tomb – took the place of the deceased in farm work in the afterlife. These basic objects for preserving the body and guaranteeing that the spiritual entities of the deceased (Ba, Ka, Akh) could aspire to eternal life supplemented other objects that were intended to cheer the life of the deceased for eternity: boxes, furniture, beds, headrests, fabrics and garments, sandals, equipment, crockery and much more, some of which used by the deceased in life.

Provenance: Thebes (?), Palagi Collection (Nizzoli)
Datation: 26th dynasty (664 - 525 BC)
Dimensions: h cm 168
Inventory #: EG 1975