Making Shabtis

To enhance our study of Ancient Egypt, my children made Shabtis this week as part of our history lessons.  I found the idea and directions for making Shabtis in, Hands-On Ancient History: The History and Activities of Ancient Egypt by Alexandra Fix.  Shabtis were figurines which were buried with people in Ancient Egypt.  The Ancient Egyptians believed that these statues would come to life and help them with their tasks in the afterlife.  Wealthy Egyptians would be buried with lots of Shabtis.   

My children really enjoyed this project and I was thrilled, not only with the process, but the final products as well.  For this project, my children used some art media which we normally don't use - plaster gauze - and I'm always glad when we use new art media.

The first step was to use newspaper to create a basic shape for the figurine.  After a basic shape is made that is pleasing to the maker, the entire newspaper figurine is wrapped with masking tape. 

After the newspaper Shabti is wrapped in masking tape, plaster gauze cut in strips is used to create a mummy.  Having never worked with the plaster gauze before, I was surprised by how well it worked to create a hard, but light, figurine.

Although the instructions on the package stated that the plaster gauze would dry and harden quickly, we let the Shabtis dry overnight. 

The next day, my children painted their Shabtis in Ancient Egyptian style.  I carried lots of books about Ancient Egypt down to our basement art room to inspire the children in their designs.  Acrylic paints worked wonderfully.  All three of the children spent quite a long time on their Shabtis which required them to spend some time studying Egyptian art. 

Duncan used Ralph Masiello's Ancient Egypt Drawing Book for inspiration and tried to paint several different Egyptian symbols on his Shabti.

Mason, always the creative one, looked at several different books for ideas but then tweaked the ideas to make his own completely original design.  Mason said that if he were an Ancient Egyptian, he would want his Shabti to cook for him so his Shabti held a candy cane and a butcher knife rather than a crook and flail.  The Shabti also has olive eyes, a watermelon mouth, and a steak-themed nemes.

Amber used a picture of a box full of Shabtis found in an Ancient Egyptian tomb from the book Eyewitness Ancient Egypt as inspiration.  I thought her Shabti was very faithful to the Ancient Egyptian art style.

We are so enjoying our study of Ancient Egypt, we will all be sad when it is time to leave this historical period behind in our studies!