The Ramesses IX Tomb-plan Ostracon is an Ancient Egyptian

ostracon An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...

made of pale

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It is inscribed with a layout of the tomb of the Pharaoh

Ramesses IX Neferkare Setepenre Ramesses IX (also written Ramses) (originally named Amon-her-khepshef Khaemwaset) (ruled 1129–1111 BC) was the eighth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ra ...

in the

KV6 Tomb KV6 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings is the final resting place of the 20th-Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses IX. However, the archaeological evidence and the quality of decoration it contains indicates that the tomb was not finished in time for Rames ...

–

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

, and dates from the

20th Dynasty The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore toget ...

(c. 1100 BC). The ostracon is

inscribed {{unreferenced, date=August 2012 An inscribed triangle of a circle In geometry, an inscribed planar shape or solid is one that is enclosed by and "fits snugly" inside another geometric shape or solid. To say that "figure F is inscribed in figu ...

on a

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

of approximate dimensions: 0.66m L (2/3 meter) by 0.2m W, and was found within his KV6 tomb. The '

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

-like' '' "tomb-plan" ''is not a draft plan of the tomb construction, but is a post-construction record. Notes in

Hieratic Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...

name rooms, with dimensions. The composition of straight lines, (from a

straightedge A straightedge or straight edge is a tool used for drawing straight lines, or checking their straightness. If it has equally spaced markings along its length, it is usually called a ruler. Straightedges are used in the automotive service and ma ...

/device) use mostly 90 degree angles, but the design layout also conforms to the linear shape of the sherd, (thus requiring deviations from the 90 degree right angles). As a ''linear sherd'', the ostracon is broken into four contiguous pieces. As a dagger-shape, (non-

rectangular In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a par ...

), this is an atypical usage for ostraca, but the intention was probably durability, its resistance to decay and alteration, (the inks mostly). The ''sunken-relief'' (

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

) lines, are filled with black ink (some spillovers), and some minor inked regions are marked. The hieratic notes are also in black. The surviving design layout is about 90 percent complete due to loss of micro-chip edges, especially at the break points, and a few larger flakes.

Plan layout sequence

:*Entrance and Stairway :*First Corridor with Annexes (2-right and 2-left) :*Second Corridor :*Third Corridor :*Vestibule :*Pillared Hall :*Burial Chamber

References

*''Egypt, from Prehistory to the Romans.'' Taschen GmbH. 2001. Notes: D Wildung: ''Curator of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.'' Photo of ostracon is composed on the Title Page, pg 5. (softcover, ) * Siliotti, Alberto. ''Guide to the Valley of the Kings.'' Barnes and Noble. 1997. Identical ''Plan View''; also an ''Elevation View'' down to the 'Burial Chamber'; pgs 68–69. Ostracon {{AncientEgypt-stub