O DM 6458
| Identifier | ODM_6458 |
|---|---|
| Title | O DM 6458 |
| Description | Recto and verso are inscribed with 14 and 3 marks respectively in black ink. The marks are not placed in lines or rows, but rather seem to have been collected as a cluster. |
| Date | 2024-12-11 09:52:52 +0000 |
| Other inv. nos | IFAO ONL 6458 |
| Provenance | Deir el-Medina ! |
| Preservation | The fragment is incomplete and broken off at least at the bottom where the lower parts of two marks are missing. The paint has faded in some places, making especially the marks in the upper part of the fragment diffi cult to read. |
| Material | pottery |
| Transcription | B [] cbjdbvdhj |
| Interpretation | Group of 42 different workmen’s marks in four horizontal lines. The marks perhaps represent a team of workmen. Two marks are repeated twice ( and ). One interpretation could be that the workman carrying the mark was accompanied by a son, family member or apprentice. Each mark, including the double versions, is accompanied by a dot in red ink. This could have been a counting or control mark, checking off every individual workman. The reading order on the ostracon is not entirely clear: the hieroglyphs indicate a reading order from right to left, yet the marks in the final line only take up the space on the left side of the ostracon. |
| Remarks | Comparable to this ostracon are O. Ashmolean HO 1095, O. Glasgow D. 1925.80, O. Cairo SR 12218, O. Cairo CG 25651, O. IFAO ONL 6429, O. IFAO C 2470. The same hand seems at least to have written O. Ashmolean HO 1095. |