Asset number
144989001
Description
Part of an ebony oil label, restored from two fragments, with a hole for attachment at the top right-hand corner. The front surface bears an incised hieroglyphic inscription, arranged vertically on the left side and in four horizontal registers on the right. The vertical inscriptions give the name of Den and of the seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, Hemaka, together with the name of another official, Iti-sen. Beside his name are two signs of uncertain reading. This official seems to have been associated with the palace and another building, which may have been an oil-press. Beneath the king’s name is the designation of the kind of oil to which this label referred, together with its quantity, although part of the number is missing. On the right of the label, the inscriptions in the four registers are bordered by a large rnpt-hieroglyph, indicating that the text records the events of a particular year. The top register bears a scene of the Sed-festival, showing the king wearing the double crown, running as part of the ritual and seated on a throne in a booth. The meaning of the lower registers is not entirely clear, but they include references to the destruction of a stronghold and the taking of captives.
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