Limestone ostracon depicting a burial

Limestone ostracon depicting a burial (Acc. 5886) Limestone flakes, called ostraca, provided a cheap, smooth surface for writing. Many thousands of ostraca survive carrying written inscriptions and rough sketches. However, this ostracon is unique because it bears a sketch of a funeral. This piece measures 16cm and depicts the process of taking the mummified body down the tomb shaft prepared for burial. At the top of the shaft are shown five figures, four mourning women, corroborated by other tomb scenes, are shown pulling their hair in distress and bereavement, and a male figure, acting as priest, who carries in one hand an incense burner, and with the other he pours a libation. An individual is shown scaling his way down the shaft, and in the burial chambers themselves, there is a priest who appears to be wearing the mask of Annubis wo is known to have officiated at funerals. Inside the tomb there are other coffins already in place, implying that this is perhaps a family tomb. Though ostraca are most typical from the New Kingdom, c. 1200 BC, the design of this tomb is well known later in the third intermediate period, so it is not inconceivable that this piece was made after the New Kingdom. This ostracon was discovered in Thebes, Upper Egypt, and was donated to the Manchester Museum by Sir Alan H. Gardiner in 1913.

Manchester Museum

public domain