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Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by spiralx on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @05:21PM (#31173349)
A lot of those are related to death:

5 WRAPPING (THE CORPSE OF) HIS MOTHER 2 WRAPPING (THE CORPSE OF) HIS SON 1 EMBALMING HORMOSE 1 EMBALMING HIS BROTHER 1 MOURNING HIS SON 3 LIBATING TO HIS FATHER 13

and I suspect most of these:

8 WITH THE SCRIBE 1 OFF ABSENT WITH THE SCRIBE 5 FETCHING STONE FOR THE SCRIBE 2 FETCHING STONE FOR QENHERKHEPSHEF 1 LIBATING FOR HIS SON 1 LIBATING FOR HIM 1 LIBATING 2 BURYING THE GOD 21

and there's a bunch making remedies and/or looking after wives and female relatives:

6 MAKING REMEDIES FOR THE SCRIBE’S WIFE 5 HIS WIFE WAS BLEEDING 4 WITH KHONS MAKING REMEDIES 4 HIS DAUGHTER WAS BLEEDING 2 HIS MOTHER WAS ILL 21

Some ones that seem work-related by the use of names:

49 WITH HIS BOSS 3 WITH HIS BOSS DITTO 3 WITH HOREMWIA 13 WITH AAPEHTI 68

Then there's some actual stuff the worker was doing - mostly brewing beer:

17 BREWING BEER 5 OFFERING TO THE GOD 1 WITH HIS GOD 1 STRENGTHENING THE DOOR 1 BUILDING HIS HOUSE 25

A few unknowns:

4 OFF ABSENT

And finally the actual illness and injury, including scorpion guy!

67 ILL 4 SUFFERING WITH HIS EYE 1 THE SCORPION BIT HIM 72

Seems that brewing and DIY were the only hobbies around - unless you count making remedies or embalming!

Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by downrightmike on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @07:01PM (#31174231)
Brewing beer and making remedies may may not be mutually exclusive as ancient beer had natural antibiotics like tetracycline: https://www.wired.com/2010/09/antibiotic-beer/
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by james-skemp on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @06:56PM (#31174181)
With his boss:

It's a little buried (on mobile) but:

> ... the next most frequent is being away with one's superior doing private work for him, a practice that was not forbidden if done in moderation.

Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by _carbyau_ on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @09:29PM (#31175201)
While definitely a legal grey area in these modern times, foremen borrowing a truck/excavator and a bloke or two to sort out something at the foreman's house still seems to happen.
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by neycoda on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @08:13AM (#31178927)
I imagine this happens often considering the amount of stories I hear of developer companies doing inadequate jobs.
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by dr_dshiv on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @07:35PM (#31174505)
Many might be missing work because of ritual uncleanliness (wife/daughter bleeding)
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by neycoda on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @08:11AM (#31178912)
Yah, exactly, they're not excuses, they're reasons, and apparently allowed and understood.

Whoever wrote that article is really anti-worker and probably a trash person.

Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by blakebreeder on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @01:51PM (#31183386)
The word "excuse" doesn't require the negative connotation you're ascribing to it.
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by londons_explore on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @01:34AM (#31176683)
Remember this is translated by archaeologists, and most of them go into the profession thinking about mummies.

I suspect whenever they come across a symbol they don't understand to translate, they might just assume it means "ooh, it must mean wrapping my father"!

TL;DR:. Translator bias could be hitting hard...

Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by f1refly on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @03:01AM (#31177117)
No. We have a good grasp of how ancient Egypt worked. Archeologists also don't go into the profession "thinking about mummies", archeology is a respectable, evidence-based profession. Do you think the whole field of archeology is a joke?0 There are lots of dual-language pieces that have been used to verify an accurate translation of these very inscriptions.
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by alsetmusic on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @09:49PM (#31187951)
Not least of which, the Rosetta Stone has three: Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone

Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by frupert52 on Saturday April 30, 2022 @04:10AM (#31214262)
For a long time archeology was simply known as “digging” and following that “digging for things”
Re:3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why pe... by junon on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @03:22AM (#31177220)
Do you have any authority on the subject of archeological academic misconduct or are you speculating?

No, archeologists do not go into the field "thinking about mummies". This isn't Hollywood.