The limestone tablet - known as ostracon - is in the possession of The British Museum, which has identified it as dating back to 1250 BCE.

The tablet holds the records of forty employees’ attendance in New Egyptian hieratic script written in red and black ink and counts every day each employee missed work and a reason they allegedly gave as to why.

On ‘month four of Winter, day 24,’ as quoted by My Modern Met, one employee named Pennub missed work because his mother was ill.

Other employees were also sick that day, while Seba was bitten by a scorpion. Other reasons were listed such as collecting stones and helping the scribe.

The most outlandish reason of them all - many workers gave the reason for their absence from work as ‘brewing beer’, a saying that takes on a lot more significance in Ancient Egyptian times.

The British Museum explains: ” In ancient Egypt, beer was so essential it was treated principally as a type of food – it was consumed daily and in great quantities at religious festivals and celebrations.

“Beer was essential for labourers, like those who built the pyramids of Giza, who were provided with a daily ration of 1⅓ gallons (over 10 pints). Yet it still had divine status, with several gods and goddesses associated with beer.”

Many workers listed their reason as ‘embalming relatives,’ which is basically just taking time off for a funeral.