Deir el-Medina is the Arabic name for the village in the Theban
necropolis, once occupied by the pharaohs’ tomb-builders and the
artisans of New Kingdom Thebes. It’s name means ‘Monastery of the Town’
and derives from the Coptic monks who occupied the Ptolemaic temple
there during the early Christian period, but in ancient times it was
known as ‘Set Ma’at’ (the Place of Truth) or simply ‘Pa-demi’ (the
town).
We do not know exactly when the village was founded. Bricks
discovered in the original enclosure wall were stamped with the name of
Tuthmose I, although Queen Ahmose-Nefertari and her son Amenhotep I of
early Dynasty XVIII were revered by the inhabitants, suggesting that its
origins may have been earlier. A cult temple of Amenhotep I was
situated at the northern end of the village. Little is known about the
earliest settlement here, which was destroyed by fire, but later during
the reign of Horemheb the houses were restored and the village expanded.
The remaining structures in the village today date from Dynasties
XVIII, XIX and XX and excavations, restorations and study in recent
years has been carried out by the French Institute of Oriental
Archaeology (IFAO). The site has yielded a huge amount of information
about the daily lives of the inhabitants, their families and
relationships, as well as their working and living conditions. A great
deal of textural material in the form of papyri and ostraka (large
flakes of limestone or pottery sherds used for sketches and jottings)
have been found, making it possible for archaeologists to outline
detailed reconstructions of the social and industrial organisation of
the settlement. A massive collection of figured ostraca has been
recovered, especially from ‘the Great Pit’, a wide deep hole to the
north of the Temple of Hathor. It is thought that the pit was originally
dug by the villagers in search of water. Such settlement sites are
rare. There have been discoveries of similar communities at Giza, dating
from the Old Kingdom and Kahun, from the Middle Kingdom, which together
with Deir el-Medina enables us to build a more complete picture of the
lives of the common people of ancient Egypt.
The community at Deir el-Medina consisted of
the workers and craftsmen who were employed in the construction of the
New Kingdom royal tombs of the King’s Valley. It occupied an area of
around two hectares, with seventy dwellings enclosed within the original
walls and about fifty more outside during the Ramesside period. The
residential area was approached from the northern end where a well was
located and had a broad central street running north to south with
houses on either side.
The houses were all built to a similar plan from mudbricks, usually
with four small rooms, an internal staircase leading to a terrace or
upper room and sometimes a cellar. The flat roofs were constructed from
planks of wood from palm trees, internal walls were plastered with
gypsum and painted white and floors were of stone. There was a large
brick structure in the corner of the entrance hall, entered by a short
flight of steps – thought to be either a domestic shrine or a
bed-platform used in childbirth (or perhaps both combined). The platform
would often be decorated with depictions of the god Bes, who was
associated with childbirth as well as being a household god. The main
room was lit by high clerestory windows and this room had a low raised
platform and stelae dedicated to ancestor cults and to Meretseger,
goddess of the Theban necropolis. A storage area was also used as
sleeping quarters and a kitchen area with an oven and an open roof was
at the rear of the house. The dwellings were not unlike some of the
traditional houses on the West Bank today.
The door lintels and jambs of the houses were painted red and often
inscribed with the name of the inhabitant’s family. They seem to have
been inherited by family members who usually carried on the position or
trade of the householder and the more elevated their position, the
grander their house. The community was isolated, having little contact
with the outside world (probably for security reasons) and they were
governed directly by the Vizier of Upper Egypt. His local representative
was the ‘Scribe in the Place of Truth’ or ‘Scribe of the Tomb’ who
would relay the daily orders to the gang’s foreman. The tomb-builders
were assigned to two gangs. It is suggested that they worked on the left
side or the right side of the royal tombs and each gang or ‘iswt’ was
responsible for the work on their own side under a foreman. Each gang
consisted of stonemasons, draughtsmen, artists, carpenters and sculptors
as well as having their own deputies, guards and door-keepers who were
responsible for the security of the workplace and discipline of the men.
The workmen were guarded by the ‘Medjay’ or necropolis guards, some of
whom were stationed outside the village. The tomb-builders walked to the
Kings Valley over the mountain on paths still used today, and perhaps
spent part of their shift, which lasted a week (consisting of ten days),
sleeping in ‘stopover villages’ on the mountain ridge. The remains of
these huts can still be seen.
The workmen were paid in grain and other provisions such as fish,
vegetables, water oil and salt. On special occasions such as festivals
(there were many of these) they were given a holiday and bonuses which
may have consisted of extra rations of food such as meat or poultry and
other ‘luxuries’. When work on a royal tomb slowed down the workers were
laid off for a time and records indicate that the craftsmen would often
have been employed in more menial tasks. They also supplemented their
income by taking private commissions which enabled the workers to
construct tombs and burial goods for themselves, their families and
other private individuals. This apparently worked on the principle of
bartering their skills and many ostraca have been found which record the
buying and selling of goods between the inhabitants of the village.
There are also records of disputes in the village – probably
inevitable in a small isolated community. One such dispute is recorded
between two individuals, Amen-nakht and Paneb over the office of foreman
after the death of Amen-nakht’s brother. There were also disputes over
settlement of property, non-payment for goods received, theft and
blasphemy. During the reign of Rameses III a labour strike by the
workmen was considered necessary after a long period of severely reduced
rations – the strike seems to have produced the desired result and more
provisions were soon made available. However, it was to be the first of
several such strikes over pay and conditions. The village had its own
judiciary system which was comprised of leading members of the
community. They settled all minor matters of crime or dispute so that
only the more serious cases needed to go before the vizier’s court.
Much of our information comes from the workmen who were buried in
pyramid tombs surrounding Deir el-Medina. One of the early inhabitants
of the village, an architect and foreman during the reigns of Tuthmose
III to Amenhotep III, was named Kha, and whose intact burial was one of
the major archaeological discoveries in the village (found in 1906 and
now reconstructed in the Turin Museum). His tomb contained very high
quality burial goods, including tomb furnishings, jewellery, papyri and
pottery and bronze vessels. In the houses themselves many objects have
been found, including baskets or pots containing foodstuffs and cosmetic
products which tell us about the lives of these families. Many textural
documents and stories have been found at Deir el-Medina in the form of
papyri and ostraca. There is a huge pit at the northern end of the
village, beyond the Ptolemaic temple, in which thousands of ostraca were
found, containing letters, records of births, deaths and marriages and
many aspects of religion and law pertaining to the inhabitants. There
seems to have been quite a high level of literacy in the village,
especially among the women, who would have had the responsibility of
running the household when their husbands were away working.
The demise of the workmen’s village came about at the end of Dynasty
XX during a period of turmoil and civil war and the inhabitants were
moved into a new village within the walls of nearby Medinet Habu in
order to protect them from Libyan attack. The village of Deir el-Medina
was abandoned to the desert and only the temples and shrines continued
to be visited. By the end of Dynasty XX the remaining workmen were under
the ‘protection’ of the high priests of Amun at Medinet Habu, before
the instability of the Third Intermediate Period brought about the end
of an era.
During the Ptolemaic Period a Temple of Hathor was constructed at the
northern end of the village on the site of earlier remains and this was
eventually converted into a Coptic church and monastery. Deir el-Medina
was also the site of an important Graeco-Roman cemetery. The workmen’s
village lay buried by sand until it was found by Ernesto Schiaparelli
following the discovery of the tomb of Kha
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