Shard of limestone (ostracon) bearing a letter addressed to the draftsman Khay

© 2006 Musée du Louvre / Georges Poncet

Uncertain provenance, probably Deir al-Medina
New Kingdom, 19th dynasty, reign of Ramsses II
Limestone, black ink
H.: 8.8 cm; W.: 9.1 cm
Department of Egyptian Antiquities, Musée du Louvre
(E 27679)

In this short letter an unknown person asks the “scribe” (in fact, “draftsman”) Khay, who lived in Deir al-Medina during the reign of Ramesses II, to procure on his behalf a measure of beans in order to pay for a libation to his deceased mother: “To the scribe Khay… Hear me: Get me one measure of beans. Find it without fail, [to pay] for a funeral libation for my mother. I intend to pay the price, assuredly.”
The Deir al-Medina draftsmen, more literally called “scribes of outlines,” blithely shortened their title in the hope of winning some of the prestige traditionally attached to scribes in Egypt.

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