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REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF THE AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT, INC. (ARCE). THIS PROJECT WAS FUNDED BY THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)/ PHOTO BY KATY DOYLE

HARVEST SCENES from the rock-cut tomb of Menna, who was a scribe and an overseer of fields belonging to the pharaoh, show the deceased Menna (identified by the scene’s hieroglyphic inscriptions) inspecting field work and supervising scribes. Located in western Thebes, the tomb dates from the first half of the 14th century B.C.E. After being sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, the biblical Joseph rose to power in Egypt and, much like Menna, was charged with stocking Egypt’s granaries and preparing the country for the famine predicted in Pharaoh’s dream.