British Museum

News from the front. Egyptian officials kept careful watch over the frontier between Egypt and Sinai in the late 13th century B.C. Papyrus Anastasi III, a remnant of an Egyptian historical archive known as the Papyri Anastasi, provides a daily account of movement across the border. Although no one was permitted to cross without a permit, Papyrus Anastasi V tells of the escape of two slaves (or servants) from the palace at Pi-Ramesses. According to the report prepared by the border official assigned to capture them, the slaves fled into the Sinai. The nighttime flight of the slaves, with Egyptian authorities close at their heels, roughly parallels that of the Biblical Exodus.