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Ancient Egyptian sick notes and invoices go on show

Katy Prickett
News imageThe Metropolitan Museum of Art A close-up of a drawing of a stoneworker finishing a granite statue of a king. He is in profile and has a naked torso with his right up raised up holding a round tool or stone and reaching towards the top of the headdress of the statue he is working. From a painting in the tomb of Rekhmire, Qurna, Egypt, 1479 to 1425BC.The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Images of ancient Egyptian workers (above) survive, as do many written documents which give insight into their lives - and illnesses

About 3,500 years ago, a craftsman called Panebu was recorded as off work - because he had been bitten.

The note about his absence is among dozens of ancient Egyptian everyday objects which have gone on display.

The exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge concentrates on the people who built the civilisation thousands of years ago.

They "are part of a huge body of information about these craftspeople who become living individuals, with similar concerns to us today", said curator Helen Strudwick.

News imageMusée du Louvre A record of work in the Valley of the Kings, 1550–1069 BC, limestone and pigment. It is a jagged roughly diamond shaped fragment of stone, which has faded black script across its width.Musée du Louvre
Panebu's absence from work at the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, was one of several recorded (above) in about 1550 to 1069BC

This includes an urgent order for windows, written alongside an illustration of a man with arms raised to show the size required.

The text, dating to between 1295 to 1186BC, says: "It's a job to do four of this type exactly, exactly! Hurry, hurry by tomorrow."

Ms Strudwick, senior egyptologist at the University of Cambridge museum, said: "We can all recognise the tone of voice of the man who needed his windows the next day."

News imageMusée du Louvre An order for four windows, 1295–1186 BCE. It is on a piece of stone or pottery which has writing along the top and beneath it a picture of a rectangle with bars and on the right the small stick figure of a man with upraised arms.Musée du Louvre
This figure of a man with upraised arms illustrates an urgent order for four windows and is among and is among several objects

The texts were written on shards of stone or pieces of pottery known as ostraca, used as notepads for writing reminders, or for administration.

The ostracon about Panebu, which does not record what or who he was bitten by, is among several on loan to the UK from the Louvre Museum in Paris for the first time.

Panebu was working on the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings in ancient Thebes at the time.

Other absences were recorded on the same ostracon, including that the foreman Ramery was off sick, while on two consecutive days, the whole workforce attended a woman's funeral and no work was done.

News imageThe Ashmolean Museum A receipt for making coffins 1530 to 1075BC made from limestone and with faded black ink writing. It is roughly diamond shaped and the writing is along its length. The Ashmolean Museum
The receipt for the making of coffins gives egyptologists an insight into how much they cost to make

Ms Strudwick said: "These remarkable ostraca... take us right into the lives of the craftsmen.

"We can sympathise with Panebu suffering from a bite [and] mention of the foreman Ramery starts to give us an idea about the organisation of these workers."

There is also a 3,200-year-old receipt for decorating a coffin on display, which showed that on average a complete coffin cost roughly the same as three months' wages.

News imageFitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Head end of the inner coffin of the supervisor of scribes and of craftsmen’s workshops, Newpawershefyt, about 1000BC. It is made of wood and shows the head and the top of the torso and is lying on its back so it is in profile. The hair is painted black and braided, wtih a gold and red band across it. Its face is painted gold with its eyes highlighted in black. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
The inner coffin of Newpawershefyt, a supervisor of scribes and of craftsmen's workshops in about 1000BC

The museum describes the exhibition as the first to bring to life the ancient Egyptian makers at work.

Other artefacts on display include unfinished objects, which reveal their working methods, including changes to designs and corrected or covered-up mistakes.

In July, curators revealed the "rare and exciting" discovery of 4,000-year-old handprint on the back of one of the objects.

Made in Ancient Egypt runs until 12 April.

News imageThe Trustees of the British Museum A blue, yellow and white glass vessel in the shape of a fish. Its body, tail and top fin have wavy stripes in blue, yellow and white, its face is blue, its open mouth outlined in yellow. It is resting on a black surface.The Trustees of the British Museum
The exhibition has received loans from museums in Britain, as well as France and Germany

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