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Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · ostracon

Hieratic ostracon with one column of accounts

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Ostracon, hieratic. Late Period, Persian Period, Dynasty 27, 525–404 BC. Limestone, ink. H. 20.3 × W. 16.2 × D. 5.3 cm (8 × 6 3/8 × 2 1/16 in.). From: Tomb of Nespekashuty (TT 312, MMA 509), Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1922–23. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1926.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A limestone ostracon fragment bears a single vertical column of red ink hieratic signs and numerals arranged in lines, with no clearly legible cartouche or divine iconography visible.

The object is a roughly rectangular, chipped ostracon with rounded edges. A red-brown ink script occupies the upper and right portions, forming what appears to be a single column of accounts or administrative text, written in hieratic style. The lower area contains additional faint/partly erased marks, but no clear scene, deity figure, or royal name is identifiable from the image provided. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. The inscription consists solely of hieratic strokes and numerical-like marks; individual characters are not distinct enough to confidently transcribe, and no cartouche is apparent. The surface is worn and abraded, with some flaking that obscures parts of the writing.

hieroglyphic only Late Period / Persian Period (as catalogued); exact dating uncertain from image alone. fragmentary
Materials limestonered ink
Signs hieratic account signs / numerals
Visible text "Unclear; red hieratic numerals/signs in a single column (not legible enough for a reliable excerpt)."

Connections

Found at Deir el-Bahri
Materials LimestoneRed Ink

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116234891 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 26.3.166 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 558434 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.