Canopus Foundation Tablet

In 1818, a small gold tablet was uncovered in the foundation of a temple to Osiris at Canopus, Egypt. It was lodged between two vitrified opaque tiles, one blue and the other green, between foundation stones of the temple. Attributed to Ptolemy III, Euergetes I (247‑221 BC) and written in Greek, it reads, “King Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, Brother-and‑Sister Gods, and queen Berenice, his Sister and Wife, dedicate the precinct to Osiris.” The tablet was presented by Mehemet Ali, ruler of Egypt, to Sir Sidney Smith and was acquired by the British Museum in 1895, where it still resides.