Ultraviolet light confirms an ancient Egyptian ushabti was reused for another owner

The painted figure’s original inscription was erased in antiquity and partly replaced with the name Jt.f.

Abstract editorial illustration accompanying the article: Ultraviolet light confirms an ancient Egyptian ushabti was reused for another owner

Editorial illustration — not from the study.

The painted terracotta figure dates to Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, around 1292–1186 BCE. Its original five-line inscription was erased in antiquity, and a new owner’s name, Jt.f, was added inside a red rectangular frame. Part of an Egyptian sign was also repurposed to represent the name of the god Osiris.

The altered inscription includes a short version of Book of the Dead Spell 6, although its fifth line is missing because the lower end of the object is broken. A complete examination using ultraviolet fluorescence at 365 nanometres provided material confirmation of the earlier reading that the ushabti had been reused.

How the inscription changed

The ushabti is a large painted terracotta figure measuring 22.2 centimetres in height. It was made during Egypt’s 19th Dynasty, approximately 1292–1186 BCE. Its original five-line painted inscription was erased in antiquity and partly replaced with a text for a new owner named Jt.f. Jt.f’s name appears within a red rectangular frame. The examination also supported the interpretation that a sign from the original inscription, probably part of the title “God’s Father,” was given a new meaning as the divine name Osiris. The replacement text is a short version of Book of the Dead Spell 6, with its fifth line lost because of a break.

Why the reuse matters

The examination provides physical evidence for an ancient Egyptian object being altered and reassigned to another person. It also supports the earlier inscription-based identification of the usurpation, showing how visual examination can add material confirmation to the study of ancient texts and objects.

Evidence and limits

The evidence comes from a complete ultraviolet fluorescence examination at 365 nanometres, alongside the visible inscriptions and an earlier published epigraphic study. The findings concern one ushabti, so they do not establish how common this practice was. The abstract also describes the original owner’s priestly title as presumed rather than certain, and the lower part of the replacement inscription is missing.

// Source

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18245544

View paper (DOI)Open access versionPublished 2026-09-16

Authors: Beckers Dirk

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