I like looking at the figured ostraca in museums, because you see such a wide variety of art. Some are clearly practice pieces for larger work, some are doodles and quick sketches, some are humorous in various styles. I think this piece falls into that last category.

The chap who’s being bitten by the lion is clearly not Egyptian ­ you can tell that by his hat and his hair. So the humour is mostly “tee-hee look at the foreigner being eaten by a lion!”.

But it also reminds me of how Mesopotamian kings are often shown killing lions – is this also a political cartoon, mocking the king of another country? “Hah! Calls himself lion killer, lion food more like!”.

I’m not sure where or when this piece is from, but it’s now in the Cairo Museum. I haven’t been able to find an accession number for it though.

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/634/

Jigsaw puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1ea15aa6c0fb
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0ef791c00a76