Miniature human figurines have inspired many theoretical advances in archaeological literature, centred around universal human reactions to the material affect of their form. However, confirmation that ancient audiences had such reactions to figurines can be difficult to access in the archaeological record. Egyptian shabtis, a type of funerary figurine, allow such reactions to be accessed by the archaeologist due to their widespread use throughout a long period of Egyptian history and their continuing popularity in other cultures since ancient times: evidence consists of a broad range of textual, artistic and archaeological data from many different cultures over a period of roughly 4000 years. This evidence confirms not only that ancient Egyptian craftsmen responded to and sought to maximize the material affect of the shabtis, but that a significant part of the human response to miniature human figurines is indeed conditioned by their material qualities, independent of the figurines’ original religious function and the cultural background of the viewer.

中文翻译：

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Shabtis 的重要性：四千年的小雕像

微型人类雕像激发了考古文献中的许多理论进步，主要围绕人类对其形式的物质影响的普遍反应。然而，考古记录很难确认古代观众对小雕像有这种反应。埃及 shabtis 是一种葬礼小雕像，考古学家可以接触到这种反应，因为它们在埃及漫长的历史中广泛使用，并且自古以来在其他文化中持续流行：证据包括广泛的文本，在大约 4000 年的时间里，来自许多不同文化的艺术和考古数据。这一证据不仅证实了古埃及工匠对沙布提斯的物质影响作出回应并寻求最大化，