Ushabti

Okay kiddo, do you know what a statue is? It's like a toy made out of stone or clay or something like that, and people make them to look like people or animals. Well, a long long time ago, in a place called ancient Egypt, they made special statues called ushabti.

The Egyptians believed that when people died, they would go to a place called the afterlife. And in the afterlife, they would still need to do work just like they did when they were alive. That's where ushabti come in. Ushabti are like little helpers for the people in the afterlife. They look like people with hands and feet and everything, but they're usually pretty small – like the size of your hand or maybe a little bigger.

The Egyptians would bury their dead with lots of things they thought would help them in the afterlife – like food and clothing and even their own toys. And they would also bury them with ushabti figurines. The idea was that the ushabti would come to life in the afterlife and do all of the work that the person who died would need to do.

But here's the thing – the ushabti couldn't just come to life and start working on their own. The person who died had to make a special spell called an "incantation" that would bring them to life. The spell would basically tell the ushabti what to do and how to help. Then, when they were needed, the person in the afterlife would say the spell and the ushabti would come to life and get to work.

So in a way, ushabti were like little helpers for the dead. They were always there, waiting to be called into action when they were needed. And even though we don't really believe in the afterlife or ushabti anymore, they're still really cool to learn about!