Deir el-Medina

Deir el-Medina in Luxor Egypt | Facts & History Pharaonic Tombs.

The history of the construction of the city of craftsmen in the time of the Pharaohs in the cemetery of the craftsmen of Thebes Luxor in Egypt.

History Of Egyptian & a complete list of the Pharaonic Tombs of the workers inhabitants of the city and what are the reasons for the first revolution and the first strike of the workers of history and what are the most important discoveries about the life of the ancient Egyptians, the dates of visiting the place, the prices of entrance tickets and more to start your tourist Luxor City Tours & Things to Do in Egypt.

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Facts Deir el-Medina in Luxor Egypt:

1. Deir el-Medina was a suitable place to live for ancient Egyptian families, and special graves were found for workers and people who lived in the area from a cemetery for the man and his wife.
2. A dry well used in the past to throw pottery with love, complaint and prayer letters written on it has been discovered, as was believed in ancient Egyptian culture.
3. 5,000 pieces of pottery (ostracas) were found in a dry well next to the temple of Hathor with various love letters between lovers, inscriptions, family drawings and texts to describe their daily life.
4. In ancient Egypt, it was called Set Maat and means the land of truth or The City of Truth.
5. The area contains more than 50 graves for workers and supervisors with unique decorations and inscriptions.

Where is Deir el-Medina located?

Deir el-Medina Located in Jabal al-Gurna, north of the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, in southern Egypt, Deir Al-Madina is part of the cemetery of the funerary city of Thebes.

Why was the city of Deir el-Medina built?  

The main goal was to make the area a headquarters for the families of workers such as sculptors, writers, servants, and supervisors in the land of truth.

The workers went to the Valley of the Kings to dig tombs and other workers to decorate the royal tomb as well as sculptors to carve statues of the Pharaonic king.

The ancient Egyptians believed that after his death, the pharaoh king lived among the deities in heaven and then returned to earth on his own occasions and celebrations.

When was the city of Deir el-Medina built?

• It was built in the time of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt from 1570 to 1070 BC.
• The use of the region remained from the Pharaonic dynasties 18, 19 and 20.

What does the word “worker” in the land of truth mean?

All those who work in Deir el-Medina were called in the funerary city of the Pharaonic civilization Thebes where his role was to decorate and build the tomb of the Pharaonic king during his reign.

Table of the tombs of workers and craftsmen who lived in the city of Deir el-Medina “Deir el-Medina” in the Theban Necropolis in  Luxor:

Who is the discoverer of the city of Deir el-Medina?

• A Papyrus scroll was found indicating the place in the 19th century and antique pieces indicating the area were found in the late 19th century.
• Between 1905 and 1909 AD, the place was fully discovered by archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli.
• A full French mission under the direction of archaeologist Bernard Brewer dug until the houses and tombs of Deir Al-Madina were fully discovered between 1922 and 1951 AD.

Why was the Area of Deir el-Medina chosen in particular?

1. The area is one of the best areas surrounding workers’ work areas, located north of the Valley of the Kings, west of the Valley of the Queens and south and east of the funerary temples of the kings in Luxor.
2. It is considered an uninhabited area, and therefore was the main reason to maintain the secret of the construction of Pharaonic royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.
3. The distance between the area and the workplace was very short and within walking distance without transport or effort.

Why do you call the area Deir el-Medina?

The name is due to the use of the area as a church and monastery of worship by the ancient Copts, where the temple of Hathor was converted into a church.

The plan of the city of Deir el-Medina:

In the northern part you will see the Temple of the Goddess Hathor built in the Ptolemaic era as well as the Temple of the God Amon, built in the time of King Ramses II and small religious temples of King Sethi I and King Amenophis I “Egyptian Pharaohs kings“.

Workers’ strike of Deir el-Medina – Workers’ Revolution:

Deir Al-Madina was subjected to great general workers’ revolts in the age of weakness of the Pharaonic dynasties, especially in the Iron Age, when food and drink sources dried up and there was no food source.

The first real revolution in history under the reign of King Ramses III, papyri and manuscripts were discovered telling us to send the workers a letter to the minister to be put in the hands of King Ramses III and the bull was calmed down but soon taken again and strongly due to the weakness of the reign of King Ramses III and entering the country fled economic deterioration with wars.

With the reign of King Ramses IX and King Ramses X, the workers’ revolutions returned because they did not receive enough food and drink while working in the Deir al-Madina area.

The revolution and the general strike between the workers lasted more than 45 years.

What are the reasons for the damage to the city of Deir AL-Madina?

1. Do not pay workers’ wages.
2. The area and families are not enlarged by food and drinks.
3. Injustice of provincial leaders with workers.
4. Provincial rulers stole the treasures of royal tombs in the Valley of Kings and Queens.
5. Corrupt regional leaders cohabited with women married to workers, contrary to the culture and beliefs of ancient Egyptians.
6. One of the most important reasons for the workers’ revolution was that they worked long hours at the rate of 8 working days, then two days of rest and sleep in tents in addition to not contacting families where the worker has only 3 days off per month.

It was discovered that the workers’ revolution was taking place at night with torches, and despite the attempts of the provincial leaders to pay part of the wages, the revolution continued and the mass demonstrations took place in front of the Funerary temple of Merenptah.

The workers sent a letter to King Ramses III through the labor leader known as Ben Anoki, while the governor of the funerary city of Thebes escaped during the strike and revolution.

Who are the grave robbers? And how were the royal tombs looted?

The main reason for the formation of a gang to steal royal tombs, mummies, and king’s coffins, especially jewelry and gold treasures in the cemetery, was the state of great poverty in which the ancient Egyptians lived after the reign of King Ramses IV from 1155 – 1149 BC.

Grave robbers would dig a tunnel next to the royal cemetery until they reached the burial chamber, then stole all their treasures and jewelry.

A papyrus was discovered telling us the stages of the thieves’ conviction and they confessed  that they were often complicit with the  workers  supervising the cemetery to obtain a share of the stolen treasures.

Curiously, the treasures and booty are not returned to the royal cemetery but belong to the public treasury and are considered the private property of the ruling Pharaonic king.

What are the most important tombs in Deir el-Medina?

1. The tomb of Sen-Nedjem “No. TT1” is the most important tomb of the workers who operated in the Valley of the  Kings, it contains distinctive inscriptions and  drawings on the walls telling us about the life of the ancient Egyptians, the tomb was discovered in 1886 AD. by the French archaeologist Gaston Maspero.
2. The tomb of Khaa “No. TT8″,  which is special for the director and supervisor of the workers of the region of  Deir  Al-Madina, was discovered the mummy of Khaa and his wife Merit, the mummy was transferred  to the Egyptian section at the Museum of  Turin, the  tomb  was discovered in 1906 AD by an Italian mission.

What is the historical importance of Deir Al-Madina?

Discoveries of historical texts in the site:

Texts in ancient Egyptian have been found inside the city, cemeteries, papyri, and paintings telling us…

1. The simple life of the ancient Egyptians of the village.
2. Messages of love and social relationships between people.
3. How did you record financial transactions in the civilization of ancient Egypt?
4. It was discovered how religious rites, culture, beliefs, and prayers were held by the ancient Egyptians.
5. Discovery of the artistic and literary culture of ancient Egyptians.
6. It was transformed into a church by  priests in the Coptic era of ancient Egypt.
7. The workers of Deir Al-Madina are responsible for the construction of royal tombs and nobles in the Valley of Kings and Queens.

What is the nature of life in the city of Deir el-Medina?

• The worker was called the servant of the place of truth or the servant of the place of the city of truth.
• The area of Deir Al-Madina = was 5,600 square meters and contained 68 houses.
• The area of the house does not exceed 70 square meters.
• All the houses have the same exterior and interior plan, where the walls are made of brick and white paint from the outside and color the interior walls and a wooden door consisting of 4-5 bedrooms and a high-level window.
• The region experienced a complete exodus of workers in the time of King Ramses XI due to the civil wars and the Libyan wars of 1110 and 1080 BC.
• The city monastery was subjected to a huge fire in prehistoric times, but King Thutmosis III completely rebuilt and restored the city’s buildings.
• King Akhenaton used a job in the Area of Deir Al-Madina to establish his new city at Tel Al-Amarna in Minya.
• The number of ancient Egyptian families in Deir al-Madina was estimated at around 400 and included more than 5,000 people.
• The houses of Deir Al-Madina were surrounded by a wall 132 meters long from the north and south and 50 meters to the east and west to protect 70 small houses for ancient Egyptian families.
• The height of the house above the ground = 150 cm of stone and without foundations.
• Customary penalties were introduced among workers in the region without reference to the court that was dedicated during the period of ancient Egypt, except for the death penalty for anyone, where the Minister of State had to first be consulted before the execution of the sentence.
• The worker’s monthly salary was estimated at 6% wheat per month, in addition to the entire end of the royal cemetery, such as barley, vegetables, water and pottery pots.

How to work in Deir el-Medina:

• Handicrafts such as sculpture and writing were inherited between sons and fathers among the workers of the Deir Al-Madina region.
• The employment is divided into two divisions when the construction and decoration of the royal tombs begins, where the first division consists of 60 workers, two honorable people and an administrative editor to report them daily and register them and submit them to the minister and likewise the second division on the left side of the royal cemetery.
• The worker worked 8 days and took only two days off at the same place as the cemetery for 30 days, then took 3 days off to reunite with his family in the city, then returned to work.
• The minister has been following the work and decoration of the tomb for some time, then presents a report to the chief minister and then to the Pharaonic king.

Design of the workers’ tombs:

The architectural design of workers’ tombs begins with an entrance into a building, then a brick courtyard, then a hollowed-out pyramid built on the surface of the earth where we live in tombs above a thin brick base.

Inside the hollow pyramid is a niche for the placement of a statue of the deceased worker as well as a vaulted compartment with walls containing inscriptions and drawings of the daily life of the Egyptian worker and funerary inscriptions.

A deep well was dug into the tomb, a staircase leading to a room and a few tombs containing two rooms, one of which was the burial chamber.

The burial chamber is decorated with an inscription of the deceased’s journey to the other world after his death and the design of the room was rectangular in shape with a vaulted ceiling and decorated in a unique and distinctive way.

The nationalities of the workers were Egyptians, Nubians and Asians, whose job was to carve stone, gypsum, transport water and more.

The only source of water for the workers was a well 35 minutes from the village.

The address:

The Necropolis of Thebes, West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt

Dates of visit:

• Sunday 9h00 – 17h00
• Monday 9h00 – 17h00
• Tuesday 9h00 – 17h00
• Wednesday 9h00 – 17h00
• Thursday 9h00 – 17h00
• Friday 9h00 – 17h00
• Saturday 9h00 – 17h00

Prices of tickets Deir el-Medina:

• The ticket price of a foreign tourist = 100 Egyptian pounds.
• The ticket price of a foreign student = 50 Egyptian pounds.
• The price of an Egyptian ticket = 10 Egyptian pounds.
• The price of an Egyptian student’s ticket = 5 Egyptian pounds.

Author & Writer Deir el-Medina: Tamer Ahmed Abd elfatah Yousif

The Tombs of Deir Al-MadinaLuxor in Egypt | the history of the construction of the city of craftsmen of Thebes .