The Workers Village at Deir el Medina

by Jean Smith, the President of the Egyptian Society of South Africa in Cape Town.

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The term ‘workers village’ refers to the village of the tomb builders of the New Kingdom. The village came into being early in the 18th dynasty (about the time of Thutmose I ca.1524BCE) and housed the artisans who were to build the tombs of the Pharoahs in the Valley of the Kings.

They were not slaves and most were highly skilled workers, specialists in such trades as stone mason, scribe, carpenter, sculptor and artist – as well as the ordinary workmen. They lived here with their families in this small village built especially for them.

In it’s finished state, it consisted of a large square surrounded by high walls; inside were five streets running north to south and intersected by two streets running east to west. The houses were of mudbrick, although they had stone thresholds and wooden door frames, wooden roof beams topped with (probably) matting; the average house had four rooms in total. A feature of some of the houses is a small raised platform in the corner of one room – variously suggested to be either a small shrine for the household gods, a bed or even a birthing ‘stool.’ The grander houses of the officials were bigger and boasted pillars and often had plastered white or red painted walls and floors.

Above the village and set into the hill are some of the tombs of the various foremen or worker gang leaders, all topped with small mudbrick pyramids; the tomb of the foreman Kha was found unplundered and x-rays of his mummy show that he’s wearing an elaborate collar and earrings. Other tombs lie outside the village although one infant burial was found under a house.

There is no shortage of information about the inhabitants though; a surprising number of official records, literary texts and even private letters have survived as well as simple drawings on ostraca (shards of pottery or stone on which pictures or writing were scratched); one of these last depicts a large lady who looks very much like the depiction of the queen of Punt on the walls of Hatshepsut’s temple.

Amongst the papyri are intriguing records, including records of workmen’s supplies, announcements of all kinds as well as lawsuits over debt, property and theft. Like the lady Heria, who was accused of stealing a valuable tool; she denied doing this but her house was searched and the tool recovered; unfortunately we don’t know her fate. A certain Menna, undeterred by the fact that man he was suing (for non payment of a pot of fat) was the chief of police – again the outcome is unknown, but the chief of police wasn’t the only one he sued – clearly Menna was a dangerous man to cross! Then there’s Paneb, the thug, who may have come to a sticky end. The careless scribe Kenherkhepshef, who inherited a ‘dream book’ and wrote his name in the corner.

Literary texts include what these days are called Wisdom Literature – this type of literature deals with moral precepts and advice on behaviour by learned people. A popular story was the Tale of Sinuhe, about an Egyptian in the 12th dynasty who was exiled to Palestine.

Although only the walls remain at Deir el Medina this is a very worthwhile place to visit. Not many people visit here so it’s nice to walk through the streets of this village, wondering which of the houses belonged to Paneb, to the lady Heria accused of stealing, or to Menna who sued the chief of police.

The village was abandoned shortly after the construction of the tomb of Rameses XI (KV4-Ca.1098 BCE). No more Pharoahs were buried in the Valley and there was no need for the workers village so it was abandoned probably in the early 21st dynasty (ca.1069BCE).

It is unfortunate that of these papyri and ostraca, most are in European and American museum collections as well as private collections with only a very few in the Cairo museum.

The pictures on the right show (from top to bottom) the dream book; view of Deir el Medina; the Queen of Punt; small pyramid; ostracon; plan of typical tomb in Deir el Medina; tomb of Pashedu at Deir el Medina.

To find out how you can visit this fascinating site, please contact us on +27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on: info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.

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