Deir el-Madinah

Deir el-Madinah ( _ar. دير المدينة) is an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the artisans who built the temples and tombs ordered by the Pharaohs and other dignitaries in the Valley of the Kings during the New Kingdom period (18th to 20th dynasties)

The settlement's ancient name, "Set Maat her imenty Waset," means "The place of Ma'at (or, by extension, "place of truth") [Anton Gill, Ancient Egyptians: The Kingdom of the Pharaohs brought to Life, Harper Collins Entertainment, 2003. p.160] to the west of Thebes." The village is indeed located on the west bank of the Nile, across the river from modern-day Luxor. The Arabic name "Deir el-Madinah" (and variants on the transcription) means "the convent of the town": this is because at the time of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the village's Ptolemaic temple had been converted into a Christian church. One legend maintains that the inhabitants of the village worshiped Amenhotep I as the founder and protector of the artisans' guild.

The people of Deir el-Madinah were responsible for most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens and the temples of the Theban necropolis. The workmen of the village often referred to themselves as "servants in the place of truth".The tombs they constructed included the famous tombs of Tutankhamen and Nefertari, and the memorial temples of Ramses II, Amenhotep III, and Hatshepsut – all of which, in their various states of preservation, can still be seen today.

The patron of the village was the cobra-goddess Meretseger, who was said to dwell atop the pyramid-shaped mountain al-Qurn that stands between Deir al-Madinah and the Valley of the Kings. Other deities worshiped in the settlement included Maat, goddess of justice and balance, Thoth, the protector of scribes and painters, and Chnum, the ram-headed god of potters and sculptors.

At its peak, Deir el-Madinah covered 5600 m² and contained some 70 artisans' homes with another 40 or so outside the perimeter wall. The village itself was built around one central avenue, with occasional alleyways leading off. Most of the houses were single-storey, mud brick constructions, although stone was used towards the end of the village's existence. The village was abandoned, and then ransacked, during the Third Intermediate Period that followed the death of Ramses XI at the end of the 20th dynasty.

The archaeological site was first excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli (1905-1909) and Bernard Bruyère (1917-1947).Its importance largely lies in the large number of ostraca found there, which provided revolutionary insights into matters of everyday society and economics in the New Kingdom. The site is also noteworthy for a number of tombs belonging to local artists that have been excavated, the sumptuous decorations of which indicate that the village residents placed no less importance on their own afterlife than on that of their employers.

Based on information provided on ostraca historians were able to learn more about the way this group of workers lived than some of the kings they served. they lived with their families in mud brick houses. Many households were quite large with 15 children noted in some cases, and pets such as cats, monkeys, baboons and gazelles were common.

The wives of the workers cared for the children and baked bread. Under Egyptian law they had property rights more advanced than some of the British and American wives studying them. They had title to their own wealth and a third of all marital goods. This would belong solely to the wife in case of divorce or death of the husband. If she died first it would go to her hiers not her spouse.

The workers lived in small stone huts near the tomb site for 8 working days then they went home to their familys for 2 days off. When they missed work they recorded their excuses on the ostraca one of which is that one of the workers couldn't come to work because he was embalming his mother.

During the reign of Ramses III the laborers were so exasperated by delays in supplies they threw down there tools and walked off the job for what may have been the first sit down strike in history. Village leaders attempted to reason with them but they refused to return to work until their grievances were adressed. They told them to send to Paraoh or vizier to adress their concerns. After the athorities heard of their complaints they adressed them and they went back to work the next day. [ Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs (1992) p. 134-142 ]

External links

* [http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/dem.htm Deir el-Medina]

* [http://www.leidenuniv.nl/nino/dmd/dmd.html Deir el-Medina database] (document archive)