Ostracon inscribed with identity marks

Ostracon inscribed with identity marks

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ostraca (plural for ostracon) are potsherds used as surfaces on which to write or draw. The term is used, by extension, to refer to chips of limestone, which were employed for similar purposes. Despite their humble appearances, ostraca bear a wide range of images and texts, including administrative documents, literary texts, and depictions of royal and divine figures. The texts were mostly written with reed pen and ink of two colors, red and black, and inscribed in Hieratic, the cursive script of ancient Egypt throughout most of its periods. This ostracon bears identity markers referring to royal necropolis workmen.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ostracon inscribed with identity marksOstracon inscribed with identity marksOstracon inscribed with identity marksOstracon inscribed with identity marksOstracon inscribed with identity marks

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.