Deir el Medina architecture

Deir el-Medina

Map of Thebes

Deir el-Medineh:Focal point of the village = cutting & decorating the King’s tomb.

Village of Deir el-Medina

DEIR EL-MEDINEH:Thutmose I (stamped bricks): village walled & guarded for protection.

Village

Cemetery

Deir el-Medina workmen’s

temporary camp

8 days of 10-day weekspent camped near worksite

2 work gangs in Valley of the Kings:

Gang of the left side of tomb.

Gang of the right side of tomb.

Vizier appointed a scribeWho kept a tally of attendance By workers at work site.

Illness permitted

Absence for special holidays

Special permission for absence for family problems

Workers:-Gang leader & assistant (R & L)-Quarrymen-Plasterers-Outline draftsmen-Painters

-Each worker responsible for hisstate-issued tools

Workmen’s attendance roster:

DYN. 18:Thutmose III

Ramesside (Dyn.19-20):(Reocc. Yr. 7 Horemheb)-Ramesside kings enlarged the village

-Ramesses IV doubled size of village to complete his tomb.

-R.IV state turned administration of the village over to High Priest of Amun in Thebes

-Ramesses XI village closed down after it = found to be robbing tombs during

a rebellion ( Medinet Habu).

THE ROYAL WORKFORCE:

WAGES ANDLABOUR RELATIONS:

New Kingdom salaries for the work force:

• The payment data for the tomb workers at Deir el-Medineh is more detailed:

• The workers in this privileged community received:- Housing- Various living requirements- 150 kg of wheat per month- 56 kg of barley per month- Fish- Vegetables- Pottery- Firewood- Finished products such as linen

(usuallypaid annually, or on special visits)

• However, as Dyn.20 drew to a close, the workers faced ration & supply delays and shortages.

• They went on strike several times, going to Medinet Habu to demand payment (Vizier)

Founded by Amenhotep I?Thutmose I stamped bricks in wall

Early Dynasty 18

Tell el-Amarna:

Meat and bread supplied as Salaries to workmen’s village

Workmen’s village ink labels (5 = meat labels)

Large quantities of unlabelled“meat” jars(Village supplemented its diet with its own raising of pigs, etc.)

Ostrakon Berlin 11238

The Mayor of West Thebes Ramose informs the two chief workmen and their crews that he has received a message from the Vizier Paser, saying

Please let the wages be delivered to the crew of the necropolis, consisting of:vegetables, fish, firewood, beer in small vessels, small cattle and milk.Let nothing of it be postponed, so that I would be in arrears with their wages. Be at it and pay heed!

The chief workman

2 sacks (barley)

5 ½ sacks (emmer)

The scribe 2 5 ½

17 men, each 1 ½ 4 that is 25 ½ + 68

2 young men, each

½ 1 ½ that is 1 + 3

The guardian 1 ½ 3 ¼

The slave women /

1 ½ 1 ¼

The doorkeeper ½ 1

The doctor / ¼ 1

Total / 32 ½ 84 ¾

Ostracon Cairo 25608Giving rations for the second month of summer /:

Ramesses III.

Troubles at end of R-III's reign:- Removes disloyal & corrupt vizierfrom office; exiles him to Athribis.

- Year 29: previously regular rations and payments made to royal tomb workers become sporadic.

- Worker’s go on strike!- Vizier had to intervene directly, but could only provide half the required rations and supplies.

= extreme economic hardships

THE ROYAL WORKFORCE:

LIVING CONDITIONS:

Village: - Wealthier, larger houses near entrances to village- had a doctor & carpenter- had a local court (knbt) dealing with local crimes

Village Court: - village elders, foremen, senior workmen.e.g. property disputes, complaints, etc.

Theban court: - Vizier dealt with serious crimese.g., theft from tomb, shrine, state property.Cultic court: - appeal to oracle (statues of village patron deities; processions)

- verdict could not be contested normally(second opinions could be sought)

Room 1

Ritual fixtures

Cultic objects

Female imagery

Birthing imagery

Lit clos

Female spaceHREET OUTER HALL Mt..lH HALL KITCHEN

@

o;,_-==--==-.;;sc:======2-tom

General Patterns of Domestic Space at Deir el-Medina Room 2:Ritual fixtures Cultic objects Male imagery Ancestor busts (Bierbrier: rm.1) DivanMale space

HOUSEHOLD CULTS

Deir el- Medineh: General patterns of domestic space• Ovens, cooking area• No cultic objects• No imagery• Undecorated• Processing tools• Working space

Modern village ovennear Deir el-Medina

Tf\EET

OUTER H L l MA.IN

HALL

CELLAR

0---==---===--s===============:2"0m

KITCHEti CfllARHT E

Bes guardianDriving away demons Tall

oil lamp

Deir el-Medineh:Bedroomfurnishings

Deir el-Medineh:Using rooftops: storage, household and related chores, communal activity, etc.

Clothing recovered by IFAO team

Deir el-Medineh: Villagers went to river-side market.

Sketch from Life Ostracon.

Relief from Queen Hatshepsut Temple.

Animal Ostraca.

Sex Ostraca.

Ostraca showing funerary practices

Women on Ostraca.

Tombs plans and sketches

Deir el-Medineh: Papyrus ‘library’Papyrus Chester Beatty 1, sole copy of the Tale of Horus and Seth, and of a group of love songs (preserved in Dublin)Papyrus Chester Beatty 2, sole copy of the Tale of Truth and Falsehood (British Museum ESA 10682)Papyrus Chester Beatty 3, sole copy of a Dream Book, on other side a copy of the Battle of Qadesh (British Museum ESA 10682)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 4, hymns and didactic excerpts (British Museum ESA 10684)Papyrus Chester Beatty 5, copy of the Hymn to the Nile flood, and didactic excerpts (British Museum ESA 10685)Papyrus Chester Beatty 6, prescriptions and incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10686)Papyrus Chester Beatty 7, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10687)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 8, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10688)Papyrus Chester Beatty 9, copy of the Offering Ritual for king Amenhotep I, and on other side incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10689)Papyrus Chester Beatty 10, aphrodisiacs (British Museum ESA 10690)Papyrus Chester Beatty 11, incantations for good health including the Tale of Isis and Ra, and a hymn to Amun (British Museum ESA 10691)Papyrus Chester Beatty 12, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10692)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 13, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10693)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 14, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10694)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 15, incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10695)Papyrus Chester Beatty 16, incantation for purity (British Museum ESA 10696)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 17, excerpts from the 'Satirical Letter' (British Museum ESA 10697)

Papyrus Chester Beatty 18, didactic excerpts and incantations for good health (British Museum ESA 10698)Papyrus Chester Beatty 19, copy of the Teaching of Khety (British Museum ESA 10699)Papyrus Ashmolean, Will of Niutnakht (completed by Papyrus IFAO Deir el-Medina 2, part of the Will of Niutnakht)

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/floodindex.html



https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/religion/dailycult.html



https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/isisandra.html





Deir el-Medineh: Personal letters

BUILDING MATERIAL

S&

TECHNIQUES:

Ancient Egypt• Materials and resources

Buildings:• Mud brick Silt & straw (floodplain)• Reeds• Timber

Local (e.g., huts, roofing) Local palm & acacia Imported cedar, etc.• Mud & gypsum wash (local-regional)

• Stone Igneous stones(e.g., granite)

Sedimentary stones (e.g., limestone)

Conglomerate stone (e.g., breccia)

Furnishing & decoration (“art”):• Statuary• Fittings

• Surfaces

Wood, stone, metal, etc.Various materials & items

(e.g., False door stelae)

Relief decoration Painted decoration• Furnishings (e.g., mobile

items)

BUILDING MATERIALS & TECHNIQUES:

MUD BRICK:

Ancient Egyptian• Materials and resources







• Surfaces




items)

Nile Floodplain:Source of clay mudbrick

reeds roofing; huts … palm roofing; posts …








• Surfaces




items)


WOOD ANDWOODEN PILLARS:








• Surfaces




items)

MK fort at Buhen

Tell el-Amarna: Workmen’s Village --Stairway to upper floor

- Lower part built in mudbrick- Upper part have support beam

underbrickwork steps.

- Cupboard placed beneath stairs


STONE:

NILE VALLEY BUILDING STONES from adjacent deserts:

-Limestone (common)

(common)

(Aswan)(Aswan)

(Aswan)

-Sandstone

-Granite

-Diorite

-Basalt

-Dolerite

-Quartzite sandstone

-Greywacke

-Alabaster/calcite

-Serpentine

-Steatite

(Aswan)

(E. Desert)

(E.

Desert)

(E.

Desert)

(E.

Desert)

(E. Desert)

STONEQUARRIES

Quarrying stone for the Pyramids

Limestone Granite Basalt Etc.

Sawing stone

Using quartz sand as an abrasive

Traces of sawing on basaltpaving of Khufu pyramid temple.

Hypothetical copper saw cutting stone

Quarrying talatat blocks:Building entirely new city & other temples in 5 years:using $$$, 1000s of workers, and “talatat” blocks

- Sandstone

- Smaller blocks

- Easy to cut and handle by 1 person.

- Allowed rapid constructionof new temples.

- Plastered and incised decoration.

- Another idea: the blocks replicate Djoser’s Dyn.3 Step Pyramid stones(i.e., with solar affiliations)

Quarry-2 called “Queen Tiye”

Rapid construction using talatat blocks

East tower of Horemheb’s Ninth Pylon,Karnak. The interior core is composed of muchsmaller talatat blocks from Akhenaten’smonuments at Karnak.

A late Eighteenth Dynasty relief reusedin the Twentieth Dynasty pylon of the Temple ofKhons, Karnak.

Widan el-Faras basalt quarry

Old Kingdom sandstone quarry road:

Sandstone-paved 10 km quarry roa

Basalt outcrops








• Surfaces




items)


TOOLS:

Middle Kingdom Lahun:

Evidence for smelting copperand producing cast tools.

Workmen’s tools

Deir el-Medineh: Government-issued and controlled tools.Damaged & worn tools retrieved for replacement by foreman & scribe

Decorative techniques in tombs:

Colours/pigments:- The Egyptian colour palette was

relatively limited, but they achieved a broader range by increasingor decreasing water content.

Iron oxides produced red-brown &

yellowCopper frit produced blue & green

Whitewash produced white

Soot/charcoal produced black.

The % of water added created broad

changes in tone.

- The Egyptian artists could use tone variation/shading to indicate shadowing on the body, shading, giving some indication of depth.

Dyn.6: Seankhuiptah’s tomb: shading

Deir el-Medina Necropolis, Showing Pyramidion.

Deir el-Medina Villager's Tomb, Schematic.

Approach to Ipuy's Tomb Entrance.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Plan and Section of Ipuy's Tomb (detail-left half).

Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Interior of Ipuy's Tomb, Southwest Corner of Chapel.


Plan and Section of Ipuy's Tomb (detail-right half).Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Workforce Division at Deir el-Medina.

Vizier & Overseer of the Treasury (from Central Government)

Two Foremen (Right & Left) = Village Captains Foremen's Deputies

Scribe

Tomb Guardian

Three Door-keepers

Two Police Chiefs

Tomb Builders Stonemasons, Carpenters & Chief Carpenters, Sculptors, Draftsmen

& Apprentices

Tomb Servants Woodcutters, Watercarriers, Fishermen, Gardeners, Washermen,

Potters

Female Slaves

Painting from Queen Nefertari's Tomb, Wife of Ramesses II.

Nineteenth Dynasty Royal Tomb Painting.

Ipuy & His Wife Adore Anubis &

Ptah-Sokar.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de

l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Ipuy & His Wife Adore Osiris & Hathor.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–

France.

Frieze of Relatives.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–

France.

Presentation of Food to the Dead Pair by Their Children.


Ipuy Receives Award from King Ramesses II.


Burial of Ipuy. His House & Garden. His Functions as Priest of the Cult of a Dead

King.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Ipuy's House & Garden (Drawing Water from the Pond).


Burial of Ipuy. His House & Garden. His Functions as Priest of the Cult of a Dead

King.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Agricultural Operations with an Aquatic Scene.


Goats Led to Pasture.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée,

Lyon–France.

Vintage &

Fishing. Courtesy Digimom-Maison de

l’Orient et de la

Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

A Catch of Fish.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée,

Lyon–France.

Preparation of Funeral Furnishings & Fishing.


Preparation of Funeral Furnishings.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–

France.

Workers Crafting Caskets, Funeral Craft & Tomb Furnishings.


Workers Crafting Structures for a Tomb.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–France.

Workers Crafting Structure for a Tomb.Courtesy Digimom-Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon–

France.

Deir el Medina architecture

Education

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