Numerical Tag

This ivory tag has six incised marks and a small hole in one corner. It was found at Abydos and probably dates to the Naqada III period, around 3320 BCE. This tag might have come from Tomb U-j, the place where the first known examples of Egyptian writing were found. The six marks might have indicated a quantity of linen kept in a box in the tomb. Some scholars have argued that the inscribed tags and vessels in Tomb U-j represent a very early developmental stage of writing.