Tombstone of Martha

This stone was found in Qasr Ibrim, the only archaeological site in Egypt-Nubia to have survived the Nile floods. A trapezoid block of red sandstone, the back and the sides have irregular shapes and have a rough finish . The bottom is narrower than the top. On it, there is a text.

The seven lines of Coptic on this stone make up an epitaph, a tomb inscription. This stone was once part of a tomb. The traces of plaster and dark paint in the letters show that the tomb was white-washed to have a shiny look in the beautiful sunlight of Nubia and that the letters were painted to stand out.

The tombstone tells the story of a woman called Martha.