Insights into everyday life in ancient Egypt: Archaeologists have discovered more than 18,000 potsherds near the ruins of a Ptolemaic temple, which served as writing material around 2000 years ago. Lists of names and business deals were noted on them in various writing systems, and apparently the pupils of a school also used the shards as teaching material. Numerous copies were described consecutively with only one character. The researchers say it may have been a punishment.
The focus is on an excavation site near the Egyptian city of Sohag, around 200 kilometers north of Luxor. There was the ancient settlement of Athribis, whose remains have been explored for some time by an international team of archaeologists led by the University of Tübingen. The focus was initially on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Pharaoh Ptolemy XII. built, who from 76 to 51 BC. ruled over the land on the Nile. It was the father of the famous Cleopatra. The sanctuary was dedicated to the lion goddess Repit and her husband Min and was used until Roman times. After the ban on pagan cults in 380 AD, however, it was converted into a Christian nunnery.
As the University of Tübingen reports, in 2018 archaeologists encountered masses of rubble during extended excavations in the west of the temple area, in which they discovered large quantities of inscribed potsherds. Now they report on the investigation of this special treasure, which can provide complex insights into everyday life in the settlement of Athribis in the Ptolemaic and Roman era of Egypt.
Antique sticky notes
As the archaeologists explain, in ancient times it was common for the fragments of clay pots to be used as everyday writing material. These so-called ostraca were inscribed with ink and a pen – a so-called calamus. The shards fulfilled the function of notes and were used en masse and later thrown away. So many specimens are already known. But a find as extensive as in the current case is something special, the archaeologists emphasize.
According to their research, 80 percent of the potsherds were inscribed in Demotic, which had been around since about 600 BC. had developed from the hieratic. In contrast to hieroglyphs, demotic formed the everyday administrative script in the Ptolemaic and Roman times. The second most common finds include ostraca with Greek characters and inscriptions in hieratic and hieroglyphic script were also discovered. Some apparently younger specimens also show Coptic or Arabic characters.
Archaeologists have also discovered ostraca with pictorial representations as a special category. “These potsherds show various figurative depictions, including animals such as scorpions and swallows, people and gods from the nearby temple, as well as geometric figures,” says excavation leader Christian Leitz from the University of Tübingen.
Receipts and school “detentions”
As can be seen from the translations, many of the texts are lists of names and accounts of various foods and everyday objects. The shards therefore fulfilled the function of receipts. A particularly interesting discovery was that many shards apparently came from an ancient school, the team reports: “There are rows of numbers, arithmetic problems, grammar exercises, lists of month names and a so-called bird alphabet. Each letter was assigned a bird whose name began with that letter,” says Leitz. Also noteworthy are drawings that show characteristically childish traits.
The researchers also particularly emphasize school ostraca that were inscribed in a special way: hundreds of them were continuously inscribed with the same one or two characters. As is not usually the case, the backs of the curved sherds were used in addition to the outsides. The scientists say that these writing exercises, which appear to be very extensive, could have been punishment work that some students had to do.
The team is now hoping for more finds in Athribis that can provide even more insight into everyday life around 2000 years ago. The University of Tübingen writes that the excavations in the exciting rubble areas should now continue.
Source: University of Tubingen
Video: University of Tuebingen