The rock shrine
On the narrow path leading northeast from the Valley of the Queens to the village of
Deir el-Medina, rising from the desert is a low hill, into the slope of which a series of
chapels have been cut. One chapel was dedicated in the New Kingdom to Meretseger,
another one to Ptah. The sanctuary was probably begun during the Ramesside period.
Fragments found there date to the 19th dynasty. The site was first excavated by
Ernesto Schiaparelli in 1906.
The page was last modified on October 14th 2007
Sources:
1. Weeks, Kent R.: The treasures of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings
Cercelli : White Star Publishers, 2005.
2. Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el-Medina / edited by Leonard H.
LeskoIthaca : Cornell University Press, 1994.
3. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt.
London : Thames & Hudson, 2003.
4. Černý, Jaroslav: A community of workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside period
Cairo : Institut Francais d'archeologie Orientale du Caire, 1973.
5. www.egyptsites.co.uk/upper/luxorwest/other/meretseger.html
The number of chapels and shrines dedicated to various deities by the community of
workmen at Deir e-Medina indicates their devotion, tolerance and need for public religious
expression. Any individual chapel would have provided a local residence for the god or
goddess to whom it was dedicated and an area for offerings to that deity. The chapels
symbolise the community's recognition of both local and national gods.
Stone walls surround an irregular
courtyard of the large cave-like
shelter at the southern end.
During Coptic period it was used by
hermits. Nowadays it is know by
locals as "the snake room".
The area opposite the Ptah's
shrine where traces of small stone
huts of Ramesside date have been
found.
View of the Theban hills in the
west from inside the rock shrine
Detail of a hieroglyphic inscription
- nsw-bity nb tawy -
"the dual king of the two lands".
Several large stelea from the time of
the reign of Ramesses III (1182-1151
BC) were cut into the bedrock at the
northern end of the shrine. They are
decorated with scenes of individuals
before various deities.
Vandalism in the form of
modern graffiti
Ptah's original cultic association
seems to have been with
craftsmen. The High Priest of
Ptah held the title wr kheper hmw
- "supreme leader of craftsmen".
Traces of original
pigment are left
on the walls of
the shrine.
Settlement
Temples
Chapels
Tombs
Huts
Collections
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This badly eroded walls show remains of a
relief of the goddess Meretseger with the
head of a cobra. She was the goddess
associated with the pyramidal peak of
al-Qurn and presided over the whole
Theban necropolis. Her name means "she
who loves silence". She was primarily
worshipped by the workmen of the royal
necropolis.  
Pharaoh Setnakhte (1185-1182 BC) with
the goddesses Mut of Asher and Hathor
receives the heb-sed festival symbol from
Amun-Ra and Ptah.
They are damaged and worn but
the inscriptions are legible and
cartouches with the king's name
are present.
"Ptah of the Place of Beauty",
term often mentioned in ancient
sources, is Ptah from one of the
sanctuaries at the rock cut shrine
near the Valley of the Queens     
("the Place of Beauty").
We found this ancient graffiti
about 10 meters down the path
towards the Valley of the Queens.