In the first three lines of this ostracon, we read: 'Year 13, Month 4 of Peret, Day 4, on this day the policeman Amenkhau brought back the donkey to the workman Neferhotep'. In Egypt, donkeys were indispensable aids and very expensive. Their purchase price ranged from 20 to 40 deben (1 deben = 27g of copper), the same cost as a coffin. This is why villagers of Deir el-Medina preferred to rent them rather than buy them, even for very long periods of time.
