Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription, 305–30 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1821E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1821E_erg456.jpg)
Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription, 305–30 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1821E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1821E_neg_bw.jpg)
Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Demotic script first appeared about 700 B.C.E. It is more cursive than hieratic, and many demotic signs do not correspond exactly with the hieroglyphs used to write the same word. The large number of surviving demotic documents, many of which are not the work of professional scribes, suggests that literacy in Egypt had become more widespread by the time this script appeared. This ostrakon (inscribed stone or pottery fragment) records a prayer to the god Amun to restore a blind man’s sight. It concludes with the words: “Return to me, my great Lord, Amun. I am defenseless; let me not perish; do not forget me.”
MEDIUM
Limestone, pigment
DATES
305–30 B.C.E.
PERIOD
Ptolemaic Period
DIMENSIONS
10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.1821E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Trapezoidal-shaped limestone ostracon inscribed on one side with 22 lines of Demotic script in black ink.
Condition: Chips out of left edge.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
CAPTION
Ostrakon with Demotic Inscription, 305–30 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 10 3/16 x 9 5/16 x 1 3/16 in. (25.9 x 23.7 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1821E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1821E_erg456.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.37.1821E_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/5/2007
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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