• An international team analysing the wall paintings in the tomb of Thutmose III has found an unusual combination of high-quality pigments and innovative colour blends reflecting possible Minoan influences. This suggests close cultural contacts between the Egyptian and Minoan civilisations during the New Kingdom.
• A 2,000-year-old papyrus fragment from the Hamburg State and University Library has been identified as the earliest known copy of a story about Jesus as a child, taken from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas – a book excluded from the Bible. The untidy handwriting suggests it was copied out as part of a school writing exercise.
Text: Sarah Griffiths
Tea with the junta