Ancient Egyptians were not preoccupied with death but loved life and wanted to continue the joys of living after death. Death was thought of as a continuation of life, thus mummification was evolved to ensure that the body would stay intact in its tomb surrounded by the possessions it needed for eternity.
Pharaohs were buried in pyramid tombs in the early Dynasties but being so conspicuous, they were prone to robbery. It was in the early 18th Dynasty that burial began in the Valley of the Kings on the West bank at Deir -el-Medina.
The workmen who constructed the tombs in the Valey of the Kings were highly skilled craftsmen, whose expertise was passed down from father to son. The workmen of Deir-el-Medina were called "Servants of the Great Place" and were under the supervision of a foreman or overseer who would have been appointed by the Pharaoh. After the time of Seti I (1294- 1297 BC) there is plenty of information about the lives of the workers.
The village of Deir -el-Medina consists of a large square piece of ground, surrounded by mud brick walls and entered by a gate in the south wall. The houses appear to have been assigned to the original inhabitants and treated as hereditory tennancies by the families who occupied them.
The layout of the village consisted of five streets running from North to South to intersect with two streets that run East to West, making six large blocks of about twelve houses. The houses were built of mud-brick, with stone thresholds and wooden door frames. The roofs were made of wood beams covered with matting. (similar to some of the country houses in the present day villages)
The average house had four rooms, the first opening out on to the street was used as a storage area, for cattle or as a workroom. The second room was used as living quarters and had high windows to let in the light. The main feature of the room was a low platform of mud brick about 20cms off the ground, probably used as seating by day and a bed by night.
There
were niches in the walls to put statues of the deities. The third room was thought
to be a bedroom or storeroom and the fourth at the side was a kitchen containing
an open hearth and oven leading out on to a courtyard where grain would have
been stored and ground. There was also a staircase to the roof leading off the
small courtyard.
Records show that in the time of Rameses II there were at least 48 men employed
but this number is known to have increased with later Pharaohs.
The workmen were split into two gangs, right and left or starboard and port
crew, each with their own foreman. The post of foreman was usually hereditary.
The workers were paid with food, fuel clothes and pottery
The chief task was to construct the King's tomb and the work started as each king came to power. Once the site was chosen, the tomb was carved from the solid rock using copper and bronze spikes which were pounded by a heavy wooden mallet. The tools were handed out for each shift and returned when finished with to be resharpened. Plasterers would then plaster the walls to make them smooth and then the draughtsmen and artists would draw scenes and reliefs mainly of religious texts, to mark the journey of the sun God Re. The craftsmen were also employed to build the tombs of the Queens and Nobles.
The workmen also constructed their own tombs, which were built into the cliff face just to the west of the village.
The basic design was of a small courtyard laid out around the face of the cliff,
separated from its neighbour by a mud brick wall. A small chapel was cut out
of rock with the shrine behind it and with a small pyramid erected above the
roof of the chapel.
A
shaft leading to the burial chamber was located either in the courtyard or the
chapel. The burial chamber and the chapel were both brightly painted with religious
scenes and gods and with scenes of the deceased and his family and neighbours
and also of the funeral. The tomb contained goods that they wanted to take with
them to the afterlife. After the funeral, the burial chamber was sealed with
a wooden door. The tombs were usually designed for the owner and his wife. Many
tombs have been plundered of their goods but the brilliant paintings are extremely
well preserved. Here are some examples from some of the tombs that have been
excavated..
Firstly are some paintings from the tomb of Senedjem who was one of the craftsmen.
Although not much is known about him, these are some of the most colourful from
all of the workers tombs
The picture on the left shows the journey of the solar boat,whilst on the right is the whole of the west wall of his tomb.
On the left is Senedjem and his wife and below is the god Osiris.
Another wall shows the workers working in the fields and the Nile providing water for the plants
Below is Senedjem's body being mummified by Anubis.
Another
craftsman called Pashedu has some impressive paintings in his tomb. They also
show Pashedu and his wife worshipping the gods and the whole of the walls are
covered in vivid colours.
Another "Servant of the Place of Truth" was Irunefer
In yet another tomb, that of Ipuy there are scenes of him with his family and even the family pet cat.
Some of the workers' occupations are written in their tombs or can be deduced from the paintings, yet many are simply called "crew members", but each craftsman was a vital part of the team.
The men worked for 8 days and then had 2 rest days. When they were working in the King's Valley they slept in huts at the site as it was a long walk back to the village. They worked in about 4 hour shifts with a break for food around noon. They had holidays for religious festivals and when they were not working on the King's tombs they would be working on their own. They also seemed to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with plenty of wine and beer.
They were a religious people and to the north of the village is the Temple of Hathor originally built by Seti I then rebuilt and decorated in the Ptolemaic times in the 3rd century BC by Ptolemy IV on top of several earlier structures.
Inside,
a columned hall leads into three sanctuaries. The right temple is dedicated
to Amun-Re-Osiris, the left to Amun-Sokar-Osiris and the middle one to Hathor.
A
stairway leads up to the terrace
roof and the remains of several small chapels.
Some of the wall carvings retain their vivid colours.
After the village was abandoned the temple remained and was eventually transformed into a Coptic monastery.
Beyond the temple during excavations in the early 20th century a huge pit was found, containing thousands and thousands of fragments of pottery. Much of this pottery contained writing and drawings and it was from these artefacts that egyptologists have peiced together how the workers lived. It seems that most of them could write and the broken pottery was used to practice the art of writing and drawing.
