The settlement of
Deir el-Medina
The village was inhabited by the community of workmen involved in the construction and
decoration of the royal tombs in both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.
Together with their wives and families the workmen occupied the neatly constructed houses
of mud brick and stone for some 450 years during Egypt's New Kingdom.
Sources:
1.Reeves, Nicholas: The complete Valley of the Kings : tombs and treasure of Egypt's greatest
pharaohs.
London : Thames and Hudson, 1996.
2.David, A. Rosalie: The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt : a modern investigation of Pharaoh's
workforce.
London : Routledge, 1986.
3. Černý, Jaroslav: Egypt from the death of Ramesses III to the end of the 21st dynasty.
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1965.
4. Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el-Medina / edited by Leonard H. Lesko
Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1994.
5. Clayton, Peter A.: Chronicles of the Pharaohs : the reign-by-reign record of the rulers and
dynasties of ancient Egypt
London : Thames & Hudson, 1994.
6. James, T.G.H.: Pharaoh's people : scenes from life in Imperial Egypt
New York : Tauris Parke, 2003.
7. Strudwick, Nigel and Helen: Thebes in Egypt : a guide to the tombs and temples of ancient Luxor
London : British Museum Press, 1999.
8. Montserrat, Dominic and Meskell, Lynn: Mortuary archaeology and religious landscape at Graeco-
Roman Deir el-Medina. IN: JEA 83, p. 179-197.
9. Romer, John: Ancient lives : the story of the Pharaoh's tombmakers
London : Phoenix, 1984.
10. McDowell, A.G.: Village life in ancient Egypt : laundry lists and love songs
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999.
11. Černý, Jaroslav: A community of workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside period
Cairo : Institut Francais d'archeologie Orientale du Caire, 1973.
12. Ventura, Raphael: Living in a city of the dead : a selection of topographical and administrative
terms in the documents of the Theban necropolis
Freiburg (Schweiz) : Universitatsverlag, 1986.
13. Théby : město bohů a faraónů = Thebes : city of gods and pharaohs / Jana Mynářová & Pavel
Onderka (eds.)
Praha : Národní Museum, 2007.
The page was last modified on May 25th 2008
Fragment of wall painting from the
tomb of Kynebu at Deir el-Medina:
Amenhotep I
British Museum EA 37993
Fragment of wall painting from the
tomb of Kynebu at Deir el-Medina:
Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
British Museum EA 37994
Deir el-Medina is one of the best preserved ancient settlements in the whole of
Egypt. It is situated in a small secluded valley in the shadow of the Theban hills,
on the west bank of the Nile, across from modern-day Luxor in Upper Egypt.
The settlement was founded sometime early in the 18th dynasty, although by which king
remains uncertain. Many bricks in the settlement's enclosure wall were stamped with the
name of Thutmosis I (around 1524-1518 BC), who was the 1st pharaoh to be buried in the
Valley of the Kings. However the reverence given to the previous king, Amenhotep I
(1551-1524 BC) and his mother, Ahmes-Nefertari, indicates that they might have been
instrumental in setting up the royal workforce at Deir el-Medina.
We have little information on the earliest years of the community. Most of our knowledge
about the settlement is drawn from the extensive evidence dating to the 19th and 20th
dynasties, when the village almost doubled in size.
The first workforce was probably drawn from a number of places, possibly from other
crews in the Theban area employed on temple building projects.
The original town was enclosed within a thick mud-brick wall. As the first phase of the
settlement's buildings from the beginning of the 18th dynasty was destroyed by fire, little is
known about the layout of it. After the Amarna period, under the restoration of the king
Horemheb (about 1321-1293 BC), the village expanded. The damaged houses were restored and
new ones were built.
Although the village was occupied for over four centuries, the evidence from excavations shows
that the general plan of individual houses mostly follows the pattern established in the first phase
of the construction of the settlement during the 18th dynasty. Also the ground level remained
unchanged, which differs from other settlements, where successive generations built upon the
remains of previous occupations.
The village itself
consisted of about
70 houses. They
were divided by a
main street running
from north to south.
The community reached the highest numbers and greatest prosperity towards the end of the
reign of Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC). From the end of the reign of Ramesses XI
(1098-1070 BC), the Theban area was in turmoil and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings
began to be plundered. Both the archaeological and textual evidence suggest that not later
than by the early 21st dynasty, around the years 17-18 of Ramesses XI, the community of
workmen had left Deir el-Medina and moved inside the walls of the nearby temple at
Medinet Habu.

Dhutmose, scribe of the tomb, wrote to Hor, the deputy of the estate of Amun-Ra, on his
visit to Thebes: "We heard that you have arrived and reached the town of Ne; may Amun
give you a good reception, may he do you all good things. We are dwelling here in the Mansion
and you know thoroughly our way of dwelling. But the boys of the Tomb have gone. They
dwell in Ne, while I am dwelling here alone with the scribe of the army Penthonakhte."

The mortuary temple of Ramesses III (1182-1151 BC) at Medinet Habu as seen from the
western slopes of Theban hills above Deir el-Medina
Although the former inhabitants no longer lived in the village, they used to return to visit the
family tombs and to worship at their temple of Amenhotep I. The abandoned houses were used
for storage until they decayed beyond their usefulness. It is not clear what happened to the
villagers after this period, but the site of Deir el-Medina continued to be used extensively for
both religious and mortuary purposes until as late as the 8th century AD.
The settlement's ancient name, "St-maat-hr-imenty-Wast", means "The Place of Truth, to
the West of Thebes". The ancient villagers used to refer to their settlement as "pa-demi",
"the town". The modern Arabic name Deir el-Medina, means "The Convent of the Town",
reflecting the fact, that during the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the village's Ptolemaic temple
had been converted into a Christian church.
Temples
Chapels
Tombs
Rock shrine
Huts
Collections
Back to top
The earliest example of the expression "st-maat" is in chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, which
originated during the dynasties 13-17 (2nd Intermediate Period, about 1782-1633 BC). It reads
"I have not committed sins in the Place of Truth". The term can generally be applied to any place or
locality, which is sacred or holy ground. It was not only used within the locality of Thebes. There
are examples of the term being used at Memphis, Amarna or Abydos. The term cannot be translated
with a single expression as it has not got a single meaning. Depending on the context, the meaning of
"st-maat" covers the beyond, the cemetery, a tomb, the king's tomb or even a workshop (in
Western Thebes). In Theban documents, "st-maat" was used with the addition of "hr-imnty-Wast",
meaning "to the West of Weset" (Weset being the ancient Egyptian name for Thebes, modern
Luxor). Inscriptions can be found in both hieroglyphic and hieratic writings.
Modern houses and tourist shops at Qurna, as seen on the way to Deir el-Medina
The term "st-maat", usually translated as "the Place of Truth",
repeatedly appears in tomb inscriptions and on funerary objects like
stelae, coffins, shabtis, statues, pyramidions, on door-lintels and
door jambs and also on wide variety of small objects, originating
from the Theban necropolis, and in particular the region of Deir
el-Medina. The lesser number of objects came from other Theban
locations, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens,
Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, Qurna and Dra abu al-Naga. A vast
group of titles, demoting employees "in the Place of Truth" has
been identified in the documents of the 19th and 20th dynasties.
"Wast" inscription
from the walls of the
Ptolemaic temple at
Deir el-Medina
"st-maat" from a
figured ostrakon
BM EA 8510
Excavations of Deir el-Medina

Throughout the 19th century objects were pillaged from the area of Deir el-Medina to supply the
new antiquities market awakened by foreign travellers visiting the ancient sites. In 1840s an
archive of papyri was dug up from the family tomb of Butehamun. It included letters from his
father, scribe Djutmose, to Butehamun and the correspondence of Piankh (around 1074-1070 BC),
sent from his Nubian fightings. Several more papyri, most probably from the same source, came on
the market at the time and were bought by European travellers.
The German concession at Deir el-Medina was transferred to the French after the 1st World
War. The French began working at Deir el-Medina in 1917. In 1922 the French Institute under
direction of Bernard Bruyère started a project of systematic excavation of the entire site -
village, cemetery and pit. The Great pit, used in ancient times as a town dump, was Bruyère's
most rewarding discovery. It contained thousands of both literary and nonliterary ostraka.
In 1913, Georg Moller, a German
palaeographer, lead a dig at four
locations of the settlement, within
the Berlin Museum season at Deir
el-Medina, which was granted to
them as part of a large concession
in Western Thebes. Among his
finds were: 11 houses with their
contents, 160 hieratic and 70
figured ostraka, 10-13 tombs in
the western cemetery and 4
children's graves in the eastern
cemetery.
From 1905 to 1909 the first
scientific excavation of the site
was undertaken by the Italian
archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli.
Many objects, including papyri and
ostraka, considerably enriched the
collections at the Museo Egizio at
Turin and the Museo Archeologico
at Florence. Turin already acquired
a large number of various objects
through the early 19th century
collector and dealer Drovetti.
The Northern part of the valley was
excavated to the virgin ground. Among
the most significant finds was the
intact 18th dynasty tomb of the
foreman Kha and his wife Meryt.
Between 1909-1912, Emile Baraize
was employed by the Egyptian
Antiquities Service to carry out work
on the Ptolemaic temple.
In the 3rd century BC Ptolemy IV Philopater built a temple dedicated to Hathor and Maat at the
northern side of the former village, on the site of the earlier chapels and shrines and opposite
the small temple of Amun. During Christian era the temple was converted into a Coptic church. A
monastery, or deir, was established there. Deir el-Medina thus survived its shift in function
from a primarily habitational to a sacred and mortuary site.
After the first three seasons Bruyère was joined at Deir el-Medina by Czech Egyptologist
Jaroslav Černý, who worked with the excavations until they stopped in 1952. His linguistic talent
helped to decipher and publish thousands of inscriptions and ostraka that were discovered.
Today, a world-wide group of scholars continues to study Deir el-Medina.
All the photos accompanying the "History
of excavation" come from the area in the
southeast corner of the main Ptolemaic
temple enclosure.
The photographs on this page were taken
during years 2005, 2006 and 2007.
During the 19th dynasty Deir el-Medina occupied an area some 132 metres long and 50 metres
wide. The houses within the enclosure wall were all built in blocks - no space was left between
them and two adjoining houses shared a wall.
In the workmen's village the house tenure was more strictly controlled - properties usually passed
from father to son along with their trades and professions. Restricted by the village limits,
occupants of the houses were not able to increase the size of their dwellings, as often happened in
other places. Some forty to fifty houses were later built outside the enclosure wall to the north
among or over earlier tombs.  
Eventually the papyri and many
other objects, made their way into
the storerooms of numerous
museums to await future scholars.
Most of these discoveries were
made by local people. Huge amount
of information is lost due to their
haphazard digging.
The Great Pit

North of the Ptolemaic temple, just before the opening of the valley, lies the second largest
feature of Deir el-Medina (the first largest being the Ptolemaic temple) : an enormous pit
measuring over 50 metres deep and 30 metres wide. It is generally thought that the ancient
inhabitants of Deir el-Medina attempted to dig a well here in search of a convenient supply of
water. The search was not successful, the water-table of the Nile being much lower than it was
possible to dig and so water had to continue being transported by donkeys from the agricultural
land several hundred meters away.
During archaeological excavations Bruyère dated the current form of the pit to Ptolemaic times but
two documents of the 20th dynasty record successive attempts to dig to the water level from a
locations north of the village. Since there are not other very deep holes in this area, those
Ramesside attempts must have been made at the same location.
When the attempts to find water were
finally abandoned the vast hole was
used as a rubbish pit and was filled
with debris which included hundreds of
ostraka. The pit was the richest
source of both hieratic and figured
ostraka found in the area of the
village.
A rock-cut staircase spiralling
down the walls of the pit gives
access to the bottom.
View of the pit looking from east
towards west. The chapels north
of the enclosure wall of the
Ptolemaic temple are below the
cliffs on the left.
View of the pit looking from
south towards north standing
just outside the chapels situated
north of the enclosure wall of
the Ptolemaic temple.
Although the river now flows at a considerable distance from the settlement, it has altered its
course several times since antiquity.  Napoleon's cartographers at the end of the 18th
century, mapped the main course as being much closer to the western hills than it is at present.
Water points were established at places
around the settlement, and big pottery
containers were provided to hold water. From
those points water would be distributed to
individual houses within the village.
In modern times the water points
still fulfill their function as seen in
these pictures taken in February
2007. The left image comes from
Deir el-Medina itself, the image
below comes from the road leading
from Deir el-Medina on the
crossroads towards Medinet Habu
and the Valley of the Queens.
Food and drink at Deir el-Medina

Diet was varied, balanced and nutritious at Deir el-Medina. We have ample information, concerning
food and drink, surviving through depictions of food processing and consumption in the funerary art, and
in the form of actual food remains from funerary, religious and domestic finds.
To read more about food & drink at DeM click here
The first document dates to year 15 of Ramesses III (1182-1151 BC). A depth of 22.4 metres (43
cubits) was reached without finding water and the project was stopped.

1. Ostrakon DeM 92

Year 15, fourth month of winter, day 12. List of all the work done in the well:
previously              36 1/2 cubits
work subsequently      6 1/2 cubits
total                    43

The second document dates most probably to the reign of Ramesses VI (1141-1133 BC). The workmen
tried to find the water supply again. This time, a professional surveyor was brought in to calculate the
remaining distance to the water table. The sacred lake of the Ramesseum served as a reference point.
The total depth of the water table was established to be over 31.5 metres (over 60 cubits).

2. Papyrus Turin 1923 (+ fragments)

Year 2 (or 3), second month of summer, day 15. This day, the chief builder [...] of the estate of
Amun arrived to measure the well in front of [...] the Necropolis to the water surface (of) the lake of
the Ramesseum:
from the lake to the Enclosure of the Necropolis:           elevation [...] cubits
from the Necropolis to the well:                                           26 cubits 5 palms
total:                                                                         60 + X
The difference makes 22 cubits 5 palms to the water surface.
So one shall dig 10 to [...] the water.
Total:                                                                          22 cubits 5 palms
An excerpt from Jaroslav Černý's lecture held in Cairo on April 4th 1932 (the manuscript of which is
held at the Archive of the Ancient Near East and Africa Department, National Museum - Náprstek
Museum, Prague, Czech Republic):

"Water represents a great expenditure during the excavations. Deir el-Medina lies completely in the
desert - the nearest tree is about a quarter of an hour. The ancient Egyptians had tried to dig a
well in the vicinity of the temple of Deir el-Medina, but even at a depth of 60 meters they reached
no water. Therefore all water for washing, cooking and drinking has to be transported from the well
located down in the plain close to Medinet Habu. The well belongs to our chief workman Hassan
Khalif. He gives us water for free, but we must pay the man who pump it from the well, and the
donkeys, who transport it up to our house every day from morning till evening. The expenses for
water reach, if I am not mistaken, 30 crowns a day. The lion's share of this sum ends up in the
pocket of our reis anyway, as the donkeys belong to him and he pays the man who pumps, and he
certainly does not give him all that he charges us for him."