Limestone ostrakon showing Ramesses IX with a prince and a vizier

Said to be from the Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt
20th Dynasty, about 1120 BC

The King is praised

This ostrakon is quite large; most ostraka from Thebes are relatively small (for example, one showing a baboon eating, also in The British Museum). It shows King Ramesses IX (about 1126-1108 BC) on the left receiving two men, one of whom is probably the crown prince and the other the vizier. The text above consists of praise of the king.

There are two almost identical scenes on the walls of temples of Ramesses III (1184-1153 BC), at Medinet Habu and at Karnak. In the better preserved of these (at Medinet Habu), Ramesses is reviewing the spoils of his Libyan campaign, which are presented to him by his crown prince and (in this case) two viziers. Presumably this ostrakon was either a preparatory sketch for a similar inscription of Ramesses IX, or, more likely, a copy of a standard text done by an apprentice artist who wished to practice his hand.

W.F. Edgerton and J.A. Wilson, Historical records of Ramses I (The University of Chicago Press, 1936)

W.H. Peck and J.G. Ross, Drawings from ancient Egypt (London, Thames and Hudson, 1978)

The Epigraphic Survey, Ramses IIIs temple within the (Chicago University Press, 1936)