The text

One may wonder how and why these bones landed in a tomb that was almost three thousand years older. The answer is provided by the texts on the bones. The Leiden one is inscribed with more or less the same text on both sides.

The text on the convex side is longer and more complete; the briefer text on the concave side leaves some space open. The text on both sides starts at the narrow top of the bone.

It is written continuously, but consists of three parts. In each part, somebody is invoked by an unnamed “I” in order to perform a precise job.