Hieratic Ostracon Dated to Year 21 of Ramesses II

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 limestone ostracon bears on one side five incomplete lines of a hieratic note dates to year 21, most probably of the reign of Ramesses II.

Credit: Gift of Theodore M. Davis, 1909