Dr Deborah Sweeney: "Gender and Religious Practice at the royal tomb-builders’ village of Deir el-Medîna

 

If you had lived in the royal tomb-builders’ village of Deir el-Medina, sometime between 1500 and 1070 BCE, how would your gender (and other factors, such as your social standing, age and family connections) have affected your religious practices? This lecture will discuss the religious activities of the tomb-builders and their families from birth to death, offering some answers to these questions. It will trace the influence of divine prototypes and existing social structures on gendered religious practice, but also outline areas where religious practices may have been more open-ended and not necessarily gendered.

 

Egyptology Seminars LAOP - 2022

Rescheduled for Monday December the 12th, at 10 am (Brasil time), 1 pm UK time

Registration:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMx7x5JWycN4bv7RcctBclqXPH-81Zs2gEU7q_Gh6X6n60xA/viewform
Biography:

Deborah Sweeney is Senior Lecturer in Egyptology, Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

 

Magazine menagerie: the latest research on animals in Deir el-Medina

HEKA-lecture by Audrey Crabbé

​

From the start of the habitation at the end of the 16th century BC until today animals have always been present alongside human activities at the archaeological site of Deir el-Medina. Most information on animals in the New Kingdom workmen’s village has derived from the extensive records and iconographic representations of animals in the beautifully decorated tombs and figurative ostraca.
During the inventory mission of the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology (IFAO) in 2020 and 2022, two magazines at the site storing objects from the excavations of Bernard Bruyère (1922-1951) were accessed for the first time since their closure in 1955. Inside of these magazines, approximately a thousand clay animal figurines and a small amount of animal bones were re-discovered and partially recorded. Additionally, during the 2022 mission, 140 stone animal figurines and statues from Deir el-Medina, stored in the Carter Magazine near the site, were inventoried. During this HEKA lecture, I will present the current state of research on the archaeozoological material as well as the clay and stone animal figurines and statues to offer more insights on the role that animals played in the community of Deir el-Medina.

​

Time: October 10, 2022 05:00 PM in Amsterdam

Meeting registration:

https://universiteitleiden.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Uud-6vrTsvGdRioT6EKYcBsWAVV9XszxQS

​

Latest news from Deir el-Medina

 

Several tombs are being cleaned, conserved and documented at Deir el-Medina, under the overall direction of C. Larcher. These include the Tomb of Ipy (TT217) and the Tomb of Inherkau (TT359).

The work at TT217 is under the direction of K. Gabler and is in its initial stages of tomb clearance. The initial work has revealed pottery, human remains, fragments of coffins and other funerary equipment. These are all being studied by specialists.

E. Bettles, directing the work in TT359, is close to completing her epigraphic study of the tomb. She is focusing on identifying the hands of different artists who decorated this and other tombs at Deir el-Medina and in the Theban necropolis.

Source: KMT : A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 33, Number 2, Summer 2022, p. 8.

 

Ancient smells reveal secrets of Egyptian tomb

 

"More than 3,400 years after two ancient Egyptians were laid to rest [in the tomb of Kha and Merit in Deir el-Medina], the jars of food left to nourish their eternal souls still smell sweet. A team of analytical chemists and archaeologists has analysed these scents to help identify the jars’ contents. (..) Degano and her colleagues placed various artefacts — including sealed jars and open cups laden with the rotten remains of ancient food — inside plastic bags for several days to collect some of the volatile molecules they still release. Then the team used a mass spectrometer to identify the components of the aromas from each sample. They found aldehydes and long-chain hydrocarbons, indicative of beeswax; trimethylamine, associated with dried fish; and other aldehydes common in fruits. “Two-thirds of the objects gave some results,” Degano says. (..) The findings will feed into a larger project to re-analyse the tomb’s contents and produce a more comprehensive picture of burial customs for non-royals that existed when Kha and Merit died."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00903-z
 

The original research article [only the abstract is for free]: Jacopo La Nasa et al., "Archaeology of the invisible: The scent of Kha and Merit", IN: Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 141 (May 2022)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440322000358?via%3Dihub

 

See also: Barbara Huber et al., "How to use modern science to reconstruct ancient scents", IN: Nature Human Behaviour (2022), published online 28 March 2022

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01325-7

"Olfaction has profoundly shaped human experience and behaviour from the deep past through to the present day. Advanced biomolecular and ‘omics’ sciences enable more direct insights into past scents, offering new options to explore critical aspects of ancient society and lifeways as well as the historical meanings of smell."
 

English version: "Smells like Ancient Society: Scientists Find Ways to Study and Reconstruct Past Scents"
https://www.shh.mpg.de/2146681/ancient-smells
 

Press release of the University of Pisa: "Rivelato il contenuto di vasi e anfore della tomba di Kha e Merit al Museo Egizio di Torino"
https://www.unipi.it/index.php/news/item/23328-rivelato-il-contenuto-di-vasi-e-anfore-della-tomba-di-kha-e-merit-al-museo-egizio-di-torino
 

Italian press reports: https://www.meteoweb.eu/2022/03/svelato-il-contenuto-di-vasi-e-anfore-della-tomba-di-kha-e-merit/1780288/

https://mediterraneoantico.it/articoli/egitto-vicino-oriente/egittologia-antico-egitto/pisa-metodo-olfattivo-per-scoprire-il-contenuto-di-vasi-egizi-di-3500-anni-fa/

 

The Book of the Dead of Baki and the funerary tradition at Deir el-Medina

​

A manuscript shattered into thousands of pieces, reconstructed thanks to the synergy between Egyptologists and restorers, reveals new aspects of the funerary tradition at Deir el-Medina at the dawn of the Ramesside age. This Book of the Dead, created for the scribe Baki, overseer of the construction works of the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings, anticipates textual and iconographic elements that inspired the work of local artists and reached their maximum expression in the decoration of the queen Nefertari's tomb.

 

Dr Sara Maria Demichelis and Dr Elisa Fiore Marochetti will guide us to discover this important papyrus and the funerary tradition of Deir el-Medina on Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 6.00 pm at the Conference Room of the Egyptian Museum, Turin.

The conference was streamed on YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWnRCCHzcI8

 

​A new publication on Deir el-Medina released

 

Guillemette Andreu-Lanoë, Dominique Valbelle : Guide de Deir el-Médina.

(GIFAO, 1). IFAO, 2022. 184 pp. ISBN 9782724708066. EUR 19. In French.

TOC at https://www.ifao.egnet.net/publications/catalogue/9782724708066/
"(..) Walking around the site of Deir el-Medina and studying the paintings that adorn the walls of the rock tombs, the visitor will get to know the spirit of its occupants, their earthly ambitions, the religious and funerary universe of their conception
of the afterlife and also the feasts of the multiple deities who composed the local pantheon. Coming upon the temple, built in the Ptolemaic period, comes as a perfect ending to this archaeological walk." 

 

Manchester Ancient Egypt Society

Online Study Day (Zoom): "The Deir el-Medina Community – New Evidence from Human Remains", with Rosalie David and Roger Forshaw

Saturday 26 March 2022; 9:30 am – 4:30 pm BST (10:30 – 17:30 CET)
costs: £30 for MAES members, £40 for guests
info: abstract and booking at
https://maesweb.org.uk/study-days/
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maes-march-study-day-rosalie-david-et-al-the-deir-el-medina-community-tickets-260148781007?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

 

The Museo Egizio Photographic Archive

 

The Museo Egizio of Turin is pleased to announce that the website Archivio Fotografico Museo Egizio
<https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/>
is now online. The website contains more than 1500 photographs taken during the Museo Egizio's archaeological excavations in Egypt between 1903 and 1937.
The photographs have been organised according to the provenance of the subjects represented, offering an overview of the excavations carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission, and also showing sites, and tombs, photographed for study or pleasure.
The access to the website does not require registration, and the images can be downloaded and used without payment, following to the CC0 attribution.

The photographic archive of Deir el-Medina images is available at

https://archiviofotografico.museoegizio.it/en/archive/theban-region/deir-el-medina/

 

From the Basement to the Archaeological Fieldwork :

Rediscovering Deir el-Medina Woodcraft from a Comprehensive Study

 

Speaker: Dr. Gersande Eschenbrenner Diemer

 

The French Institute of Oriental Archeology in Cairo (IFAO) houses an important collection of objects in its basement, the majority of which are the result of excavations from the early 20th century. The study of this exceptional collection is now being resumed by various specialists whose quest is to create an inventory, document and publish this unique collection. Initially carried out as part of the PERCEA Bois collaboration project between 2017 and 2018, the complete study of this group of objects is now being carried out as part of the EBENES project, which brings together several international research institutes, archaeological missions and wood materials specialists.

 

During her lecture, Dr. Gersande Eschenbrenner Diemer will accompany us to the Deir el-Medina site, where the wooden materials rediscovered in the IFAO store rooms and in the field are analyzed thanks to the work of a team of six Egyptologists (in close collaboration with the IFAO and the Egyptian Museum Turin) who are trying to bring more light into the research of a little-understood topic: that of wood in the New Kingdom.

 

EVENT IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM - Tuesday 30 November at 18.00

Free admission subject to availability.

Live streaming on the Museum's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

IN ENGLISH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Y9Go0kdpA&t=374s

​

​

​Creating a 3D model of the temple of Hathor at Deir el-Medina - Bettles, E.A. (Elizabeth)
 

November 2021

​

This is a clarion-call for all those who value:

a) Comprehensive visual documentation of ancient Egyptian temples.
b) The use of 3D digitisation techniques to record features of monumental architecture and painted reliefs.

A project is underway to create a 3D virtual tour of the Ptolemaic temple of Hathor at Deir el-Medina on the West Bank of Luxor. This temple is small (relatively speaking when compared to later temples such as Edfu and Dendera) and has exceptionally well-preserved architecture. Its stunning painted reliefs include scenes unusual for a cultic monument.

Virtual tours of pharaonic tombs, for instance as noted in the tomb of Seti I, have the benefit of letting people feel they are visiting the tomb while they are actually in their own home. But for Egyptology, 3D virtual documentation is much more than that. Such a model for the temple of Hathor would play a crucial role in producing a detailed record of the appearance of the monument as it looks today. It is an essential means of preserving for posterity the features of its rooms and ceilings, its floors and its twisting stairway leading onto the roof.
 

It would record the superb carving and painting of its decorative schema, its numerous graffiti in the initial court, written over a period of thousands of years, and the unusual marks on doorjambs where priests smeared oil as part of their temple rituals.

This description is of how this cultic monument looks at the moment. All monuments in Deir el-Medina are under threat. They sit in a valley which geological analysis has shown is prone to flash-flooding, where the surrounding rock is highly friable and where minor earthquakes occur.

Funding is needed to conduct this vital documentation of an Egyptian cultic monument to take place. If you value such a project, then please help it to take place through our crowd-funding effort.

Go to <https://www.ulule.com/deir_el_medina/>

With thanks

Elizabeth Bettles, on behalf of the international members of the Deir el-Medina mission.​

​

​

The Museo Egizio’s current research at Deir El-Medina – Cédric Gobeil

 

On Thursday June 17th 2021 at 6pm the Museo Egizio will host the online conference "The Museo Egizio’s current research at Deir El-Medina", held by the museum's curator Cédric Gobeil.

 

Cédric Gobeil is a Canadian and French Egyptologist born in Quebec City (Canada), specializing in archaeology of daily life and New Kingdom material culture, with a primary focus on Deir el-Medina, topics for which he is carrying annual fieldwork in Egypt and Sudan. After having obtained his PhD in France (Université Paris IV-Sorbonne), he worked in Egypt for the Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire and in the United Kingdom for the Egypt Exploration Society, before being appointed curator at the Museo Egizio in Turin in 2019. In addition to his curatorial duties, he is also adjunct professor in the History Department at the Université du Québec à Montréal and research associate at the HiSoMA Research Unit in Lyon (CNRS).

The event will be held in English and it will be broadcast via streaming on the Museum's Facebook page and Youtube channel.

The lecture is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BlGdac5NA8

​

 

Glenn Godenho - organiser of  Liverpool Egyptology Seminars - presents:

 

 

"In the footsteps of Ernesto Schiaparelli : The Museo Egizio’s current research at Deir El-Medina" by Cédric Gobeil (Museo Egizio, Turin)

 

An on-line event on Thursday, 20th of May 2021, 17:00 BST

​

Within the framework of the French Archaeological mission at Deir el-Medina carried by the IFAO, the Museo Egizio of Turin is conducting research on a few Ramesside tombs located in the Western necropolis. These tombs have been chosen based on many artifacts that belonged to the owners of these tombs and are now kept in the museum. In addition to giving the opportunity to perform a study on these fragile structures using new technologies, this fieldwork is a unique chance to recontextualize many objects of the museum’s collection by shedding a new and fresh light on them. This talk will be the opportunity to get a first glimpse at this work in progress.

Register at

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-egyptology-seminars-presents-cedric-gobeil-museo-egizio-turin-tickets-152507234243?keep_tld=1

​

An Italian online article by Alessandro Rolle entitled "Il villaggio operaio di Deir el-Medina" published at Mediterraneo Antico on March 23rd 2021 is now available in my English translation below. The original text can be read at

https://mediterraneoantico.it/articoli/il-villaggio-operaio-di-deir-el-medina/

 

The workers' village of Deir el-Medina : The organization of work: the scribes of the tomb

 

In the previous study, the tomb guards and the doorkeepers were outlined, using the large amount of documents relating to these categories of workers. We will now try to analyse the functions and work of one of the most important figures in the working community: the tomb scribe. In ancient Egypt, the rate of schooling was very low: in the community of Deir el-Medina, where there were figures with a high degree of specialisation, it reached about 7% in the Ramesside period. Obviously, there was a real school where students studied and learned to read and write: there is a famous Egyptian proverb that puts the student's ear on his back! However, the community of the village was an exception for the Egyptian society of the time and, apart from Pa Demi, the literacy rate in the New Kingdom can be attested at 3-4% and then regressed in the Late Period. Because of his ability to read and write, the scribe played a very important role in the management of the tomb and the administration in general: he was in close contact with the highest authorities and was directly controlled by the vizier himself. The Egyptians themselves generally attributed a prominent role to this profession, so much so that there are statuary and parietal attestations of persons depicted as scribes, although not actually exercising the profession, in the act of reading or writing a document. Emblematic in this sense is what we read in the literary text "The Satire of the Trades", in which the figure of the scribe is particularly praised.One of the tasks of the tomb scribe was to make sure that all the workers were present, by noting their absences and the reasons for them on ostraca and papyrus sheets.A copy of these notes was then sent to the Vizier's office. The Egyptian Museum in Turin has some of these papyri, known as the "Journal of the Necropolis". The number of scribes present in the team according to Černý is two, one for the right side and one for the left side, with the presence of four scribes of the tomb in the eighth year of the reign of Ramses XI, there was also one for each side of the servants attached to the team (Bibl.1).

 

The Egyptologist Valbelle disagrees with Černý and believes that there was only one scribe for both sides until the reign of Ramses XI, when there were two. To create this different vision is a matter of nomenclature, with the presence of other scribes with different functions, but still called sS. It is now generally accepted by most scholars that there was only one scribe for most of the history of Deir el-Medina: in this sense, for example, the ostrakon Berlin P 12654, in which we read pA sS in the singular. Thanks to the numerous documents found, we know the names of a considerable number of scribes, but only a few of them have the title:"Scribe of the Tomb" in hieratic or "Scribe of the Seat of Truth" in hieroglyphic inscriptions. Those who are not mentioned with the appropriate title are most likely to have come from other administrations and only had sporadic contact with the team. In some documents the scribe is referred to by the simple title sS, in others it is sS-qdwt.

 

As with the foremen, whom we will see later in this study, the inheritance of the office was also tacitly accepted for the scribes, although this custom was not followed to the letter. In fact, if the study of the documents revealed the existence of a family with six generations of scribes (Amennakhe, Harshire, Khaemhedje, Dhutmose, Butehamun and Ankkefenamun), we also know of at least three cases of scribes whose father was not a scribe, two of whom did not belong to the village. In addition to recording the absences of the workmen and foremen and the reasons for these absences, it was their job to record everything that happened on the tomb site. For example, during the strikes of Ramses III in year 29, the scribes not only described the episodes in detail, but also tried to solve the problem in some way, just as our modern trade unionists do. Together with the foremen, who, although hierarchically superior to them, can be regarded as their equals, they supervised the daily distribution to the workers of the tools of the trade, the storage of which in the warehouses located to the north of the village was considered the primary responsibility of the scribes, so much so that they often gave themselves the pompous title of "keeper of the treasury at the Seat of Truth". They also monitored the correct distribution of wages, which were paid in kind in the form of rations of bread and barley for the production of beer. In moments of crisis, which led to the series of strikes that we will analyse in a forthcoming issue, they finally took care of the provision of wages, as can be seen, for example, in the Turin Papyrus, cat. 1895. They were part of the court of the artisans' guild, and in the simplest cases, such as the division of an estate between heirs, they were able to resolve the issue immediately. Because they were highly educated, they probably wrote letters or documents of various kinds (disputes, inheritances or inscriptions on funerary objects) for the inhabitants of the village for a fee. In addition, as high officials, they attended the village court, were witnesses of oaths and interpreted the oracles of Amenhotep I during the village processions by writing down the questions asked at the foot of the statue of the divine ruler. Although there are many documents bearing the names of scribes, with a few dozen names currently known, the information about them is sparse for almost all of them.

 

Below is a list of the known scribes with some brief biographical notes.

 

iw f n Imn - Iuefimen His name is found in the Turin Papyrus, catalogue 2018 A: he was the scribe of the left side of the tomb servants in the years 8 and 9 of Ramses XI. From Papiro Torino cat. 2075 we know that in year 19, probably of Ramses IX, he received fish from three fishermen from the left side of the tomb. He is also mentioned in a letter dating from the reign of Ramses XI, in which he is ordered to go with a gatekeeper to try to persuade a reluctant fisherman to bring wheat for the workers.

 

iw f n xnsw - Iuefenkhons (?) 2. Only mentioned in the Turin papyrus cat. 2021, together with the scribe Dhutmose, as a witness to a marriage in the late 20th dynasty. We have no further news about him.

 

Imn m ipt - Amenemope Active scribe in the years 35 and 37 of Ramesses II. We also find him with the title "Scribe in the Seat of Truth" and he is the owner of the tomb TT215 at Deir el-Medina, where he is also mentioned with the title "Team Leader in the Place of Eternity". Several other monuments belong to him: an architrave (Turin 1516), three door jambs (Turin Suppl. 9508, Turin 1517 and one from the Bruyere excavations), an offering table from the same excavations, a group of statues (Berlin 6910), a relief (Cairo J. 43591), a graffiti from the Valley of the Kings, now in the Metropolitan of New York, and perhaps the stele Torino 6137, where he is described as "Royal Scribe in the Great Seat". This is one of the scribes whose genealogy we know thanks to the discovery of the tomb: Amenemope was the son of Nakht, depicted in the statuary group of Berlin and in the jamb of Turin of 1517, and of Nofretite, also present in Berlin. He married Hathor, known as Hol, depicted in tomb TT215 and also in the Berlin group and the 1517 doorjamb. The couple had two sons: Minmose, depicted in the doorway of 1517, and Amenemope. Also from the Berlin group, a source of much information, we know that his father was "Priest of Amun, Lord of the Thrones of the two Lands of Kush". In the statuary group we also read that Amenemope used the title "Priest and Scribe of Amon, Lord of the Thrones of the two Lands of Kush". Given that this is a temple in Nubia, it is plausible that Amenemope was not born in the community of the workers.

 

Imn m ipt - Amenemope In the Ostraca Cairo 280, IFAO 1319, Berlin 12641 and DM 45 he is referred to as “Scribe of the Tomb”. Active in years 1 and 2 of Ramesses IV, he is also mentioned simply as a scribe. He was probably the son of the scribe Minmose, the owner of the tomb TT335.

 

Imn nxt sA ipwy - Amennakhte son of Ipuy. Tomb scribe of the sixteenth year of Ramesses III: founder of a family of six generations of scribes.

 

Imn nxt sA pntAwr - Amennakhte son of Pentaur. Scribe. We know of him only from a document dated in the twentieth year of Ramesses III, where he is mentioned together with Amennakhte, son of Ipuy.

 

Imn nxt - Amennakhte Scribe. His name appears on the Abbott Papyrus in the sixteenth year of Ramesses IX. Of uncertain identification he could be Amennakhte son of Amenhotep, a scribe active in the seventeenth year of Ramesses IX, a character we find in the Necropolis journal.

 

pwnS - Amennakhte called Punsh. Son of Hay. We find him referred to mainly as a scribe and once as a royal scribe. There is also another Amennakhte, apparently a very common name. However, this figure is not a scribe, but a simple labourer during the reign of Ramesses IV, as we read in Ostrakon DM 41. Probably during a break in his work he copied a passage from the "Dream Book", which is present in the Chester Beatty III papyrus, and at the end of the copying he added his title and his name: Amennakhte, son of Khaemnun. The interesting thing about this character is that although he was not a scribe, he was able to read and write.

 

ImnHtp - Amenhotep We find him attested with the title of "Scribe of the Tomb", active during the reign of Ramesses IV and his successors. In addition, there are some papyri and ostraka, unfortunately of uncertain dating, in which he appears: from the Ostrakon Cairo 247 we know that he received lapis lazuli for painting.

 

ImnHtp - Amenhotep Scribe. Active at the end of the XX dynasty: apart from his name, no other details are known.

 

Imnxa - Amenkha From Ostrakon DM 38 we know that he was employed as the scribe of the tomb in the thirty-second year of the reign of Ramesses III, a few days before the death of the same king.

 

Inpw m HAb - Inpuemhab He is always referred to with the simple title of Scribe. However, given that he served from the sixty-sixth year of Ramesses II until at least the eighth year of Merenptah, it is almost certain that he also held the title of Scribe of the Tomb. As he was the only scribe to bear this name, he can almost certainly be identified with the owner of the tomb TT 206, which was unfortunately badly damaged, and in which a wooden shabty was found, now in Oxford, bearing the name of the owner.

 

anxa - Ankha Scribe in the Seat of Truth. Known thanks to the tomb TT335 of his father, the "Stonemason of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Seat of Truth" Nakhtamun. We find him in the first half of the reign of Ramesses II. We have a letter from him asking his son Nubemshas to send bread for the "boys". Unfortunately, we don't know who these boys are.

 

anx f - Ankhef This character represents the title written in three different ways: Scribe, Scribe of the Tomb and Scribe in the Seat of Truth. His father, Butehamon, was also a scribe.

​

axpt - Akhpe (t). Tomb scribe and scribe. Active in the years 17 and 18 of Ramesses III. We find him again in the year 21 of the same king.

 

wnnfr - Unnefer Always referred to only as a scribe. From Ostrakon DM 339 we know that his house was within the village. He was an active member of the workers' court and interpreted oracles when the statue of Amenhotep I was carried in procession. His name appears among the absentees from work in the Valley of the Queens. He worked between the eleventh and twenty-fourth year of Ramesses III.

 

wnnfr sa anxt (w) - Unnefer son of Ankhet Scribe of the right side of the tomb in the years eight and nine of Ramesses III.

 

bAy - Bay Royal Scribe of the Seat of Truth. His name is found in some graffiti, which unfortunately cannot be dated. Two ostraca refer to a scribe with the same name: it is probably the same person, but with two different titles. From the study of these two documents, it is possible to assume that Bay was active during the reign of Sethi II or Merenptah-Siptah.

​

bknmwt - Bekinmut Scribe of the Seat of Truth. We find his name in a graffiti in the Royal Cachette, the tomb of the priest of Amon Pinudjem II, dated to the tenth year of Siamun's reign. He is currently the last known scribe of the tomb.

​

bwthimn - Butehamon Son of Dhutmose, we find him with the titles of "Scribe of the Tomb" and "Scribe of the Seat of Truth".

 

pAy - Pay Scribe of the Seat of Truth. His name, present only on a palette now in the Louvre, does not allow us to date this figure either to the nineteenth or to the twentieth dynasty.

 

pry - Peroy This is an obscure figure: his name, with the title of Scribe of the Seat of Truth, is found on a stele from the University of Cambridge. The strangeness comes from the style of this stele, which is not entirely compatible with the monuments from Deir el-Medina.

 

pwr sA dHwty m HAb - Puer son of Dhutemhab Scribe of the right side of the team in the eight and nine years of Ramesses XI, he was also active in the reign of his successor.

 

pnfrmdjed - Peneferemdjed His name is found in numerous graffiti and he is referred to by various titles: scribe of the tomb, scribe, royal scribe and even scribe of the treasury. Thanks to the discovery of two stelae (Bibl.3) we know that he was the son of Amennakhte, son of Ipuy. He practised the profession of scribe in a third year, without being able to link him to a particular ruler.

 

pxrw - Pekheru Scribe of the Seat of Truth. The ruler under whom he served is unknown: given the prevalence of the name in the 20th dynasty, it is plausible that he lived in that period.

 

pAxy - Pakhy Known as Scribe of the Tomb, Scribe of the Seat of Truth, and simply Scribe. The only information about him is that he was the son of the scribe Butehamon.

 

pAsr - Paser In documents he is always referred to by the simple title of Scribe. He was a very important figure: he was present at the distribution of the grain rations, which he measured. He was also a member of the village court. From Ostrakon Berlin 12654 we know that he won a lawsuit against the designer Nebnuf. He had a very long life: the first document attesting to Paser dates from the reign of Sethi II and the last from the second year of the reign of Ramesses IV, some 52 years later. By this time, Paser was already an octogenarian.

​

pASdw - Pashedu In addition to the titles of Scribe, Scribe of the Tomb and Scribe of the Seat of Truth, we also find him as "Scribe and Priestly Reader". He began his career in the sixth year of Sethi II, when the vizier Praemhab ordered him to return to the team. He was still active during the first year of Ramesses-Siptah. We have another Pashedu among the scribes. In this case, the spelling of his name is incomplete: it ends in a hieroglyph. He is simply referred to as a scribe and probably worked during the reign of Ramesses II. His actual profession as a scribe is not certain: it is possible that he was a draughtsman. The Berlin Papyrus 8523, dated to the 21st dynasty, bears the name of another scribe of the tomb: Painebdjed. Apart from the name, which only appears in this papyrus, we have no further information.

 

Pnprai - Penprai He is found as Scribe of the Tomb, Scribe of the Seat of Truth, Scribe but also Scribe of the Horizon of Eternity, active between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st dynasty. His father was the wab priest Pehirenthanakhte. There is another Penprai known as a scribe in the Seat of Truth. He is supposed to be the son of the previous one, but this could be a misinterpretation of the inscriptions. Indeed, when reading his son Penprai, it is not certain whether the word son refers to Penprai or to Pehirenthanakhte: in this case Penprai would be the same scribe mentioned above.

​

pntAwr - Pentaur Tomb scribe and scribe. The period of activity of this scribe extends from the sixth year of Sethi II to the twenty-ninth year of Ramesses III. He was a member of the court and, among other monuments, a statue representing him was carved. In the only case known so far, we know the date of his death thanks to the papyrus of the strike of the year 29, in which we read at the beginning of the document: "Year 29, fourth month of the summer season, day 34, death of the scribe Pentaur, son of Amennakhte".

 

pntAHwt - Pentahut Known by the title of Scribe and, in his last year of work, as "Scribe of the Army", at the service of the temple of Medinet Habu. We are not sure when he lived: the only certain dates are the 17th year of Ramesses IX and the 3rd year of Ramesses X. His father was Sobeknakhte, probably a scribe himself.

 

minms - Minmose Scribe, scribe in the Seat of Truth and, in the stele Louvre cat. 218, Royal scribe of the Secrets in the Seat of Truths. He was the son of the scribe Amenenmope and the father of another scribe of the same name who was his grandfather. He worked between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th dynasty. However, his name does not appear in any administrative document.

 

minfr - Minefer All we know of him is that he was the son of the scribe Butehamon. He is found with the title of Scribe in the Seat of Truths.

 

mrims - Merimose Known only as a scribe from graffiti 318 and 332. It is currently impossible to determine the period in which he worked.

 

mrira - Merira Scribe, he was the son of the worker Amonmose. His name was found on two ostraka, together with the scribe Amenemope, in a year 35 which certainly refers to Ramesses II.

 

mHtSt - Mehaft He is attested as the scribe of the tomb of Graffito 1300. The period in which he lived is uncertain, perhaps the 21st dynasty.

 

nbnfr - Nebnefer Royal scribe and scribe in the Seat of Truth. He was the son of Hor, a stonemason and, almost certainly, Nebnefer was also a stonemason and not a scribe. We find him on two ostraka (Cairo 763 and 765) cited together with Ankhof and Minefer. He worked between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st dynasty.

 

nbnTr (w) - Nebnecher Scribe in the Seat of Truth or simply scribe. From the reading of Ostrakon DM 317 it is clear that Nebnecher was a contemporary of Ramose and Pay and therefore active in the middle of the reign of Ramesses II. In this document Nebnecher names Pay as his father, but we are not sure of the relationship: it could be a term used as a sign of affection.

 

nbxp - Nebkhep His name appears in the Book of the Dead now in Turin, cat. 1768. He was the Scribe of the Tomb and the son of Butehamon.

 

nfrHtp - Neferhotep He is found with the addition "boy" to distinguish him from his father of the same name. He is a Scribe at the Seat of Truth or simply a Scribe. He lived at the end of the reign of Ramesses III. In one of his letters, addressed to the vizier Ta, he emphasises that he is working assiduously on the tomb of the sovereign's children.

​

nxmmwt - Nekhemmut Scribe in the Seat of Truth. Active under Ramesses III. From some anonymous letters addressed to him the figure of a not very pleasant character emerges. In one we read, as a note of contempt: "You are not a human being"; in another we read: "You are very, very rich, but you give nothing to anyone... .... you are a bad boy". Let's just say she didn't get much support! The village of Deir el-Medina is an inexhaustible source of this type of message: some of them will be analysed in the continuation of the study.

 

nAxtsbk - Nakhtsobek Tomb Scribe. He lived in an unspecified period under one of Ramesses III's successors.

 

nsimnpt - Nesimenopet Tomb scribe. At work during the reign of Ramesses IX. He took part in an interrogation concerning the famous thefts in the necropolis, in the nineteenth year of the last Ramesside king. We have two letters of this character: one written by the scribe himself and addressed to the singer of Amun Mutenhopet concerning problems in some areas; the other is a letter sent to him by the Singer of Amon Henuttaui: from the reading of this letter it is clear that this second singer was most likely the wife of the scribe himself.

 

nspnfrHr - Nespenefer Nothing is known about him except the title of Scribe of the Tomb. Epigraphic studies place him between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st dynasty.

 

nspHrntA - Nespherenta From the sarcophagus we know that he was Royal Scribe, Scribe of the Youth of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Seat of Truth, Superintendent of the Treasury of the Horizon of Eternity and Superintendent of the Works in the House of Eternity. Beyond these titles, however, we know nothing: he was probably active in the 21st dynasty.

 

rams - Ramose Scribe at the Seat of Truth in the first half of the reign of Ramesses II.
He was the son of Imenemhab and Kakaia. His father was not a scribe but an attendant.
The magnificent Pyramidion (Turin 1603) is in the Turin Museum.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

                                                                                                                                                                                     © Museo Egizio di Torino

                                                                                                                                                                      Photography Lenka Peacock 2020

HAy - Hay Royal scribe or Scribe at the Seat of Truth. He was the son of Amennkhte and the brother of his father's namesake.

 

Hwy - Huy Scribe or, from the reading of a graffiti: "Year 37, fourth month of the flood season, day 14, the Scribe in the Seat of Truth Huy, son of Dhutimaktef". He lived during the reign of Ramesses II and was a contemporary of the scribe Ramose. In Ostrakon Cairo 513 his name appears, together with another scribe, among the absentees. We have three letters addressed to him and one written by him. His name is found in four tombs: TT215, TT219, TT250 and TT336. In the last two we also find the name of his wife: Nefertkha.

 

Hri - Hori Tomb Scribe. We are dealing with the most mentioned scribe. The first testimony, which is doubtful because of the handwriting, dates from the year 23 of Ramesses III. With certainty, however, we find him mentioned in the Strike Papyrus, dated to the year 29 by the same monarch. The last certain date is the seventeenth year of the reign of one of his successors, Ramesses IX. There are numerous documents referring to Hori: from letters written by him to several papyri. It is also possible that he was the author of a Teaching, according to Gardiner's reading of the Ostrakon Gardiner 2. However, there are other scribes and workers with this name: Scribe Hori, active in the fifth year of the reign of Sethi II; Scribe Hori, who lived at the end of the 20th dynasty; a scribe of the vizier Hori, dated to year 13 of Ramesses IX; a scribe of Mat (reading uncertain) Hori, a contemporary of the more famous Hori and a stonemason of the same name.

​

Hriwr - Horiur Tomb scribe. His grandfather was Ipuy and his father Amennakhte. Among the scribes there is another Horiur. He was the son of Harmose. His title was that of a simple scribe: his name is known only thanks to a plea from the workers addressed to him in the Turin 111 Papyrus, dated to the year 8 by a Ramesside ruler, perhaps the ninth.

 

xamHD - Khaemhedj Tomb scribe. Son of Horiur.

 

xns (w) ms - Khonsumes We find him mentioned three times in the documents found so far: in the sixth year of an unspecified ruler, in the eighth year perhaps of Ramesses IX, and in the third year of Ramesses X when his name appears in a short note in the Necropolis Journal. However, it is not certain that this person was a scribe.

 

Sobeknakhte His name appears only in the Graffito 1627 with the title of Scribe of the Tomb. He probably lived in the second half of the 20th dynasty.

 

sbksnb - Sobekseneb In the Turin Papyrus 76 we read that he was the Scribe of the Tomb. He worked in the year 16 of Ramesses IX.

 

stHmss - Sethmess He appears only once, on British Museum stela EA217, in the company of the stonemasons Sety and Nebra, with the title of Scribe. However, it is possible that he was also a stonemason and not a scribe.

 

qnHrxpSf - Kenherkhepeshef Scribe, Tomb Scribe and Scribe at the Seat of Truth during the reigns of Ramesses II and Merenptah. His tomb, mentioned in the Turin papyrus, was very large and was located in the southern part of the cemetery of Deir el-Medina: unfortunately it is now completely lost. We also find this scribe in Papyrus Salt 124, where he is accused of having accepted a "bribe" from a certain Paneb and saved him from an accusation. From the study of the texts relating to this scribe, the figure of a character emerges who did not make honesty his own banner.

 

kAnxt - Kanakhte His title was "Chief of Works in the Horizon of Eternity". He lived in the second half of the 20th dynasty.

​

kAnr - Kaner Royal scribe in the Seat of Truth. We find his name on Ostrakon Cairo 504, dated to the seventh year of Merenptah.

 

tA - Ta Tomb Scribe and Royal Scribe at the Seat of Truth, or simply Scribe. He was a member of the family of the scribe Amennakhte.

 

TAy - Tjay Tomb scribe and royal scribe in the Seat of Truth or simply scribe. He was also part of the family of the scribe Amennakhe. He was active during the reigns of Ramesses II and possibly Sethi I.

 

TAry - Tjaroy He is the scribe of the Tomb Dhutmose, who was so nicknamed. He is a descendant of Amennakhte and the son of Ipuy.

 

DAy - Dyay Tomb Scribe. We read in Ostracon Cairo 261 that he was the son of the worker Nekhemmut. He worked under Ramesses IX. However, the name Dyay is otherwise unknown in the New Kingdom. The correct spelling could be Any.

 

Sources:

1 Papiro Torino, Cat. 2018 (anno 8 di Ramesse XI).

 

2 The reading of the hieroglyphic signs, as these are in a bad state of conservation, is uncertain: it could also be called Iuefenmont.

 

3 Davies stele and Berlin stele 20989.

 

4 The day, however, is of uncertain reading.

 

The site of Deir el-Medina has produced a large number of documents, many of which are ostraca, thanks mainly to the excavations carried out in the 1950s in the Great Pit in the north-western area, which was artificially dug by the working community to search, unfortunately in vain, for water. These documents reveal an extremely lively society, certainly a very modern one. Here are just a few examples.

 

In the ostracon DM328, dated to the reign of Ramesses II, we read the complaints that Pabaki sent to his father, the painter Maaninakhtef, about the bad work of a labourer: "I did what you told me: let Ib work with you. You see, it took him all day to fill the jars with water and he did nothing else during the day ... ... the sun is setting and he is still absent".

 

In another Ostrakon, Leipzig 2.3, we read of some problems with the weight of the food rations distributed, with the accusation, addressed to the scribe Paser, that he had used a badly calibrated weight. As the record is not completely preserved, we do not know whether Paser was a fraud or whether there were indeed problems with the weight.

Ostrakon DM546 contains a curious promise of payment by the washerman Bakenuerel in which we read that if this washerman should not pay within the third month of winter, day ten four pieces of cloth to the worker Pashed, it would authorize him to be given 100 blows with a stick and to pay the worker double the value of the goods.

 

Ostracon Berlin 12630, dating from the 20th dynasty, perhaps during the reign of Ramesses III, has a different tenor. Mesu, a labourer, explains to a woman whose name is not given that her husband, the scribe Amennakht, has not yet paid the agreed price of a calf in exchange for a sarcophagus. Mesu discussed this with Paakhet, who promised to bring him the calf in exchange for a bed. Apparently the calf was not brought and Mesu concluded by asking for the return of the bed and sarcophagus.

 

Ostrakon DM 133 reports three appeals to the oracle of King Amenhotep I for the policeman Amenkha to guarantee the payment of 9 deben for the use of a donkey belonging to the painter Harmin.

 

We read in the ostraka of many disputes about donkeys, obviously a very important animal for the community: on the other hand, Egyptians are still very often seen riding on donkeys! Little has changed!

​

Ostrakon Prague 1826, dated to the 19th dynasty, shows a scene of a family quarrel. In this document a certain Takhentyshepset writes to her sister Iy complaining about her husband. "I had a quarrel with Merymaat, my husband. I'm going to divorce you, he keeps telling me, because my mother doesn't give us the amount of barley we need to make bread. ...... Your mother does nothing for you, and neither do your brothers and sisters... ...In short, you have to go back: take note! ". We do not know how the story ended. In many other ostraka there is news of the progress of the work.

 

An ostrakon, Cairo 25644, reports Neferhotep's curious complaint about a woman who works with him: "What kind of girl is she? Does she always need food?

These are just a few examples: surely many were written by scribes seeking additional remuneration. A more in-depth analysis of these messages will be the subject of one of Alessandro Rolle's forthcoming publications. We look forward to reading them!
 

 

The Thames Valley Ancient Egypt Society hosted an online Zoom lecture on 6 March 2021 entitled "Revealing the Practice of Tattooing in Ancient Egypt" with speaker Dr Anne Austin,

Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Her research combines the fields of osteology and Egyptology to better understand daily life in ancient Egypt. In particular, she uses data from ancient Egyptian human remains and daily life texts to reconstruct ancient Egyptian health care networks and identify the diseases and illnesses that people experienced in the past. 

 

The practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt is rarely documented. Egyptologists have identified tattoos on very few mummies from the more than 3,000 year history of pharaonic Egypt. Textual evidence is virtually silent on the practice, and art historical evidence is often obscure. In 2014, the mission of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO) made an incredible find - an extensively tattooed mummy from the necropolis of Deir el-Medina. With over 30 tattoos, this woman completely redefined what was known about tattooing in ancient Egypt. Her tattoos have been identified on her arms, shoulders, back and neck. They were all figurative, sometimes hieroglyphic in nature. It has been suggested that the tattoos had a divine function, as they would have been visible to the local population. A study of her tattoos provides new insights into this practice - on the top of her left and right shoulders, and also on her neck (above the throat), she had wadjet eye and nefer symbols, similar to a formula often associated with the goddess Hathor in New Kingdom graffiti. Other tattoos on her body were difficult to interpret, but many related to the goddess Hathor - there were two cows facing each other wearing menat necklaces. On her back was a clump of bent papyrus stalks with a water symbol underneath. This matched the same symbol found on the floor of the Temple of Hathor at Deir el-Medina. The extensive use of Hathor imagery in these tattoos shows the incredible amount of religious authority women could hold at a time when the title "Priestess of Hathor" was not even documented.
 

Dr Austin argued that tattoos in ancient Egypt had a more complex function than previously thought, when scholars have suggested that for Nubian women tattoos served as a marker of their ethnic identity. Even in the New Kingdom, tattoos could identify a woman as a dancer or Hathor, as well as being associated with Nubia, or because Hathor was associated with Nubia.

Early excavations at Deir el-Medina predate the study of human archaeology, so we do not have an accurate record of the human remains at the site, as many were moved and some were not mentioned by Bruyère in his reports. The team's aim is to identify the location of all human remains at Deir el-Medina.

 

Since 2014, the team has used infrared imaging - when skin is photographed in infrared and tattoos invisible to the naked eye become instantly clear and visible - to identify dozens of new tattoos among the many unpublished human remains at the site. This talk presented the latest findings from the bioarchaeological team of the 2019 and 2020 IFAO mission to Deir el-Medina, led by Dr Austin. These additional tattoos indicate that many more individuals were likely tattooed at Deir el-Medina. The designs and placement of the tattoos varied widely. The team is finding a large number of tattoos on the mummies' hips, thighs, inner forearms and on their lower backs, which is the most common location for tattoos.
The symbolism and motifs of the tattoos are also examined, as well as how typical they are. For example, Bes is very common in ancient Egyptian art, but until now there has been no evidence of Bes in tattoos, although it has been identified on a woman's front thigh. Most of the imagery is naturalistic - animal deities and floral motifs dominate the tattoo arena. No hieroglyphic texts have been found.

 

The team focuses not only on human remains, but also on how they relate to artistic representations of tattooing and how they correspond to physical evidence, such as the Bes example mentioned above. It is becoming clear that the tattoo motifs that appear on ostraka, in paintings on tomb walls, on figurines and even on cosmetic spoons may reflect similarities observed in everyday life in ancient Egypt.

​

Dr Austin concludes that tattooing is probably more common than we think. More research will lead to a better understanding, as many tattoos are currently overlooked because they are not searched for. She considers whether women in Deir el-Medina may have had a parallel artistic tradition focused on everyday life - with symbolic motifs inscribed on the body. If tattooing in Deir el-Medina was done on women, but also by women, we should reconsider whether other art in the village could have been produced by them.

 

Combining physical and art historical evidence, this lecture provided some of the most comprehensive evidence we have to date for the practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt. Dr Austin's next research project will focus on the practice of tattooing in ancient Egypt and its potential links to gender, religion and medicine. In addition to her interests in Egyptology and Osteology, she is working to improve archaeological data management practices through her participation in an international collaborative ethnographic research study of archaeological field schools.