A 1882, Misira, yayin da har yanzu suna da wani ɓangare na Daular Ottoman, ya kasance a ƙarƙashin mulkin Birtaniya, kuma masana kimiyyar ilimin kimiyya na Birtaniya sun fara binciken da aka tsara na kasar. Saboda Oxyrhynchus ba a la'akari da wani tsohuwar Masar ba, ba a damu ba har zuwa 1896, lokacin da matasa biyu masu bincike, Bernard Pyne Grenfell da Arthur Surridge Hunt, dukansu 'yan makarantar Kwalejin Sarauniya, Oxford, suka fara tono shi. "Abinda na farko na dubawa a kan binciken shafin ba shi da kyau", in ji Grenfell.
Masana binciken kayan tarihi na Burtaniya