We sat in the shade of a flowering bush further into the Menagerie while a pair of chattering monkey-like creatures watched us with their inquisitive faces scrunched in concentration.

"Ra," I said, prompting Seshat who settled next to me with her tablet and pen in her lap. "Is he the reason you left Egypt?"

She nodded, staring at her hands as she twiddled the pen back and forth. Her shoulders rounded forward, grief and frustration obvious as she spoke.

"It's been ...