“It’s because the papyri are speaking of the Pyramid of Khufu,” he says. We are standing in an encampment in a desert valley a couple of hundred yards from the Red Sea near the modern ...

The ostracon, labelled ‘Year 40’ of Ramses II, is inscribed with New Egyptian hieratic script and lists the days by season and “date” (for instance, “month 3 of summer, day 20″).