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Ancient Egyptian village in the Valley of the Kings

Deir el Medina , or Dayr al Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BCE) The settlement's ancient name was Set maat ("Place of Truth"), and the workmen who lived there were called "Servants in the Place of Truth". During the Christian era, the temple of Hathor was converted into a Monastery of Saint Isidorus the Martyr from which the Egyptian Arabic name Deir el Medina ("Monastery of the City") is derived. At the time when the world's press was concentrating on Howard Carter's discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, a team led by Bernard Bruyère began to excavate the site. This work has resulted in one of the most thoroughly documented accounts of community life in the ancient world that spans almost four hundred years. There is no comparable site in which the organisation, social interactions, working and living conditions of a community can be studied in such detail. The site is located on the west bank of the Nile, across the river from modern day Luxor. The village is laid out in a small natural amphitheatre, within easy walking distance of the Valley of the Kings to the north, funerary temples to the east and south east, with the Valley of the Queens to the west. The village may have been built apart from the wider population in order to preserve secrecy in view of sensitive nature of the work carried out in the tombs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A significant find of papyri was made in the 1840s in the vicinity of the village and many objects were also found during the course of the 19th century. The archaeological site was first seriously excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli between 1905–1909 which uncovered large amounts of ostraca. A French team directed by Bernard Bruyère excavated the entire site, including village, dump and cemetery, between 1922–1951. Unfortunately through lack of control it is now thought that about half of the papyri recovered were removed without the knowledge or authorization of the team director. Around five thousand ostraca of assorted works of commerce and literature were found in a well close to the village. Jaroslav Černý, who was part of Bruyère's team, went on to study the village for almost fifty years until his death in 1970 and was able to name and describe the lives of many of the inhabitants. The peak overlooking the village was renamed "Mont Cernabru" in recognition of Černý and Bruyère's work on the village.

The first datable remains of the village belong to the reign of Thutmose I (c. 1506–1493 BCE) with its final shape being formed during the Ramesside Period. At its peak, the community contained around sixty eight houses spread over a total area of 5,600 m2 with a narrow road running the length of the village. The main road through the village may have been covered to shelter the villagers from the intense glare and heat of the sun. Houses consisted of four to five rooms, comprising an entrance, main room, two smaller rooms, kitchen with cellar and staircase leading to the roof. The full glare of the sun was avoided by situating the windows high up on the walls. The tombs built by the community for their own use include small rock cut chapels and substructures adorned with small pyramids. Due to its location, the village is not thought to have provided a pleasant environment. The walled village reflects the shape of the narrow valley in which it's situated, with the barren surrounding hillsides reflecting the desert sun and the hill of Gurnet Murai cutting off the north breeze, as well as any view of the verdant river valley. The village was abandoned c. 1110–1080 BCE during the reign of Ramesses XI (whose tomb was the last of the royal tombs built in the Valley of the Kings) due to increasing threats from tomb robbery, Libyan raids and the instability of civil war. The Ptolemids later built a temple to Hathor on the site of an ancient shrine dedicated to her.

The surviving texts record the events of daily life rather than major historical incidents. Personal letters reveal much about the social relations and family life of the villagers. The ancient economy is documented by records of sales transactions that yield information on prices and exchange. Records of prayers and charms illustrate ordinary popular conceptions of the divine, whilst researchers into ancient law and practice find a rich source of information recorded in the texts from the village. Thousands of papyri and ostraca still await publication.

The settlement was home to a mixed population of Egyptians, Nubians and Asiatics who were employed as labourers, (stone cutters, plasterers, water carriers), as well as those involved in the administration and decoration of the royal tombs and temples. The artisans and the village were organised into two groups, left and right gangs who worked on opposite sides of the tomb walls similar to a ship's crew, with a foreman for each who supervised the village and its work. At great festivals such as the heb sed the workmen were issued with extra supplies of food and drink to allow a stylish celebration. The working week was eight days followed by two days holiday, though the six days off a month could be supplemented frequently due to illness, family reasons and, as recorded by the scribe of the tomb, arguing with one's wife or having a hangover. Including the days given over to festivals, over one third of the year was time off for the villagers during the reign of Merneptah (c. 1213–1203 BCE). During their days off the workmen could work on their own tombs, and since they were amongst the best craftsmen in Ancient Egypt who excavated and decorated royal tombs, their own tombs are considered to be some of the most beautiful on the west bank. The jobs of the workers would have been considered desirable and prized positions, with the posts being inheritable. The examples of love songs recovered show how friendship between the sexes was practised, as was social drinking by both men and women. Egyptian marriages amongst commoners were monogamous but little is known about the marriage or wedding arrangements from surviving records. It was not unusual for couples to have six or seven children, with some recorded as having ten. Separation, divorce and remarriage occurred. Merymaat is recorded as wanting a divorce on account of his mother in law's behaviour. Female slaves could become surrogate mothers in cases where the wife was infertile and in doing so raise their status and procure their freedom. The community could move freely in and out of the walled village but for security reasons the only outsiders allowed to enter the site were those with good work related reasons. Women were supplied with servants by the government to assist with the grinding of the grain and laundry tasks. The wives of the workers cared for the children and baked the bread, a prime food source in this society. The vast majority of women who had a particular religious status embedded in their names were married to foremen or scribes and could hold the titles of chantress or singer, with official positions within local shrines or temples, perhaps even within the major temples of Thebes. Brewing of beer was normally supervised by the Mistress of the House, though the workmen considered the monitoring of the activity as a legitimate excuse for taking time off work.

The workers and their families were not slaves but free citizens with recourse to the justice system, as required. In principle, any Egyptian could petition the vizier and could demand a trial by his peers. The community had its own court of law made up of a foreman, deputies, craftsmen and a court scribe, and were authorised to deal with all civil and some criminal cases, typically relating to the non payment of goods or services. The villagers represented themselves and cases could go on for several years, with one dispute involving the chief of police lasting eleven years. The people of Deir el Medina often consulted with oracles about many aspects of their lives including justice. Questions could be put in writing or orally before the image of the god when carried by priests upon a litter. A positive response could have been indicated by a downward dip and a negative response by a withdrawal of the litter. When a matter of justice came up that wasn't resolved by a tribunal, the god's statue could be carried to the accused and asked "Is it he who stole my goods?" and, if the statue nodded, the accused would be considered guilty. However, at times, the accused would deny guilt and demand to see another oracle or, in at least one case when that failed, he asked to see a third. When guilt was determined, a judgement would be passed and the accused would have to make reparations and receive punishment. The Egyptians also believed the oracle could bring disease or blindness to people as punishment or miracle cures as rewards.

The records and ostraca from Deir el Medina provide a deeply compelling view into the medical workings of the New Kingdom. As in other Egyptian communities, the workmen and inhabitants of Deir el Medina received care for their health problems through medical treatment, prayer, and magic. Nevertheless, the records at Deir el Medina indicate some level of division, as records from the village note both a “physician” who saw patients and prescribed treatments, and a “scorpion charmer” who specialized in magical cures for scorpion bites. Health texts from Deir el Medina also differed in their circulation. Magical spells and remedies were widely distributed among the workmen; there are even several cases of spells being sent from one worker to another, with no “trained” intermediary. Written medical texts appear to have been much rarer, however, with only a handful of ostraca containing prescriptions, indicating that the trained physician mixed the more complicated remedies himself. There are also several documents that show the writer sending for medical ingredients, but it is unknown whether these were sent according to a physician's prescription, or to fulfill a home remedy.

The royal building service was usually well run, in view of the importance of the work it carried out. Paying proper wages was a religious duty that formed an intrinsic part of Maat. When this system broke down it indicated problems in the wider state. The coming of the Iron Age and the collapse of the empire led to economic instability, with inflation a notable feature. The high ideals expressed in the code of Maat became strained and this provided the background to workers unrest. In about the 25th year of the reign of Ramesses III (c. 1170 BCE) the tomb laborers were so exasperated by delays in supplies that they threw down their tools and walked off the job in what may have been the first sit down strike action in recorded history. They wrote a letter to the vizier complaining about lack of wheat rations. Village leaders attempted to reason with them but they refused to return to work until their grievances were addressed. They responded to the elders with "great oaths". "We are hungry", the crews claimed; "eighteen days have passed this month" and they still had not received their rations. They were forced to buy their own wheat. They told the leaders to send to the pharaoh or vizier to address their concerns. After the authorities had heard their complaints they addressed them and the workers went back to work the next day. Several strikes followed. After one of them, when the strike leader asked the workers to follow him they told him they had had enough and returned to work. This was not the last strike but they soon restored the regular wheat supplies and the strikes came to an end for the remaining years of Ramesses III. However, since the chiefs supported the authorities the workers no longer trusted them and chose their own representatives. Further complaints by the artisans are recorded forty and fifty years after the initial dispute, during the reigns of Ramesses IX and Ramesses X.

After the reign of Ramses IV (c. 1155–1149 BCE) the conditions of the village became increasingly unsettled. At times there was no work for fear of the enemy. The grain supplies became less dependable and this was followed by more strikes. Gangs of tomb robbers increased, often tunnelling into a tomb through its back so that they wouldn't break the seal and be exposed. A tomb robbery culture developed that included fences and even some officials who accepted bribes. When the Viziers checked the tombs in order to determine whether the seals had been disturbed, they wouldn't report the tomb as having been opened. When they finally did catch tomb robbers, they used limb twisting tactics to interrogate them and obtain information about where the plunder was and who their accomplices were. The Abbott Papyrus reports on one occasion, when some officials were looking for a scapegoat, they obtained a confession from a repeat offender after torturing him. However the Vizier was suspicious at how easily the suspect had been produced, so the Vizier asked the suspect to lead them to the tomb that he had robbed. He led them to an unfinished tomb that had never been used and claimed that it was the tomb of Isis. When they retrieved the plunder, they didn't return it to the tombs; instead, they added it to the treasury.

The French Egyptologist and author Christian Jacq has written a tetralogy dealing with Deir el Medina and its artisans, as well as Egyptian political life at the time. Deir el Medina is also mentioned in some of the later books of the Amelia Peabody series by Barbara Mertz (writing as Elizabeth Peters). The village is the setting for some scenes, and late in the series the fictional Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson is credited with excavations and documentation of the site.