Petrie Museum of
Egyptian Archaeology,
University College London
This page was last updated on January 16th 2008
1. Museum's own labels
2. Museum's web site at www.petrie.ucl.ac.uk
3. Page, Anthea: Ancient Egyptian figured ostraca : in the Petrie collection
Warminster : Aris & Phillips, 1983.
4. Shaw, Ian, Nicholson, Paul: British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt
London: British Museum Press, 1995.
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Deir el-Medina ostraka in the Petrie Museum

Ostrakon, the Greek term for potsherd, is used by Egyptologists to refer to sherds of
pottery or limestone flakes, which were used as a cheap and readily available writing or
drawing material. The text and drawings often consist of letters, bills, personal notes,
inventories, sketches and scribal exercises, but also of literary texts, like love poems and
wisdom texts.
The ostraka in the Petrie Museum come from the Flinders Petrie collection, which he
obtained mainly in Thebes, though the exact place and dates of acquisition still remain to
be established. The contents indicate, that the majority of Petrie ostraka did originate in
the Theban area - either in Deir el-Medina itself or in places where the Deir el-Medina
workforce were active, e.g. The Valley of the Kings. A big proportion of Petrie ostraka
are small pieces of limestone, while the smaller proportion are pottery pieces.
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Alongside the figured ostraka,
there is also ostraka inscribed
mainly in hieratic script... to read
more about hieratic ostraka in the Petrie
Museum click here
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The Petrie Museum houses a
collection of figured ostraka, the
pictorial sherds. The subject of
these varies, from gods and royal
personages to animal scenes... to
read more about figured ostraka in the
Petrie Museum click here
Náprstek
The collection of Deir
el-Medina stelae in the Petrie
Museum is represented by
limestone offering stelae and
offering tables and their
fragments... to read  more about
the stelae click here
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Ancient Egyptian stelae

Stele is a slab of stone or, less often, wood, which on at least one side bears inscriptions,
reliefs or paintings, usually of a funerary, votive or commemorative nature. Often these
categories overlap. The depictions and inscriptions form independent units, but the
monuments need to be understood in its original architectural setting. In ancient Egypt
stelae were most often placed in the wall of a chapel. There are also free standing
examples, sometimes with inscribed separate plinth.

Ancient Egyptian offering tables

Offering tables were usually placed in an accessible location within the private tomb such
as the chapel, so that offerings could be brought to it by the funerary priests or
relatives of the deceased.
Turin