SHARE On January 17, Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry announced that a team of archaeologists had discovered an astonishing number of decorated coffins at the Unesco World Heritage site of Saqqara, near Cairo. Displayed proudly, the 50 wooden coffins looked magnificent: rendered in human form and with bright, colourful and sharp depictions of the mortuary gods of the ancient Egyptian pantheon. For the Egypt-obsessed, such a discovery was exactly what was needed to distract from an endlessly Covid-19-filled news cycle. Ironically, despite their deep age, the coffins heralded progress, newness – the passage of time when life for so many during this pandemic is tired and repetitive.