Upper Egypt site has now yielded more than 43,000 inscribed pot sherds, a record-breaking trove of information

A joint archaeological mission by the University of Tübingen and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) has documented the world's most extensive find of inscribed pottery sherds at the Upper Egypt site of Athribis. The archaeologists have recovered more than 43,000 ostraca between 2005 and 2026, more than 42,000 of them in the past eight years alone.