The end of the story

Qasr Ibrim is the only archaeological site in Egypt-Nubia to have survived the Nile floods. This tombstone was found on top of the citadel of Qasr Ibrim, near the Cathedral of the city. This cannot have been its original place, however, since it must have been part of Martha’s tomb.

Why was it removed? Actually, this often happened with stone objects in ancient times, which were reused in other buildings. In this tombstone, we have traces of wear, for instance in line 3 in the middle of the text. This means it was probably reused in a later building on the citadel of Qasr Ibrim. On 17 March 1966, archaeologists of the British Egypt Exploration Society discovered this tombstone during excavations at Qasr Ibrim and donated it to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden in April 1985.