What was on an ancient Egyptian’s to-do list? Researchers are finding out, thanks to more than 43,000 notes recovered from the ruins of Athribis, a city in Egypt built in the fourth century b.c. This spring, archaeologists at the site announced that they’d collected thousands of ostraca, small pieces of pottery used by ancient Egyptians for informal writing. The fragments include receipts, records of employee attendance, notes about everyday activities, and children’s schoolwork, such as grammar and arithmetic practice.
The ostraca show that Egyptians more than 2,000 years ago shared many of the concerns people have today, from dealing with sleep problems to having to pay taxes. The site has only begun to reveal its secrets, experts say. “This everyday content gives us a direct insight into the lives of the people of Athribis,” Egyptologist Christian Leitz says, “and makes the ostraca an important source for a comprehensive social history of the region.”