In the Liverpool galleries I photographed 6 objects that originally came from Deir el-Medina and that were on display at the time. The Museum currently holds 4 additional objects whose provenance is now researched as Deir el-Medina - they are added to the list below. World Museum, Liverpool Liverpool's World Museum has one of the largest collections of ancient Egyptian and Nubian antiquities in the UK, with over 16,000 objects dating from around 5,000 BC to 642 AD. The original core of the Egyptian collection was given in 1867 by Joseph Mayer, an English goldsmith, collector and antiquarian (1803-1886), and was later expanded by supporting fieldwork projects of the Egypt Exploration Society, Flinders Petrie's British School of Archaeology in Egypt and especially John Garstang's excavations at Liverpool University. During the Blitz in May 1941, more than 3,000 Egyptian objects were destroyed by the Luftwaffe, with an incendiary bomb causing structural and fire damage to the building. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/ The expanded and redesigned Ancient Egypt gallery at Liverpool's World Museum, refurbished at a cost of £1.8m and reopened at the end of April 2017 after a year and a half of closure, is now the largest exhibition of its kind in the UK outside of the British Museum in London. The gallery space has tripled in size to around 1000m². The expansion allowed for the display of objects that had never been shown before, or that had been in storage for decades, and although the plan promised to triple the number of objects on display, it remained at around 1300. The gallery space, themed "Ancient Egypt: A Journey through Time", is divided into 7 chronological and thematic sections: "5,000 Years" outlines the time scale and introduces the key themes. The focus of the "River Nile" zone is a late predynastic female tomb excavated by John Garstang at Kostamneh in Nubia, now submerged under Lake Nasser. The People of Egypt section focuses on daily life, religion and art. the "African Kingdoms" section outlines the dominance of various powers over time and includes Nubian, Meroitic and Greek and Roman material. The highlight of the 'Afterlife' section is a 4 metre long Ptolemaic Book of the Dead papyrus of Djedhor, son of Tapes, preserved on 5 leaves in both hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts, displayed for the first time alongside 150 shabtis, a 127 centimetre high wooden statue of Osiris, animal mummies and decorated coffins. Liverpool Discovery, a circular area, illustrates Liverpool's importance as a conduit for Egyptian artefacts to England. The 'Mummy Room', flanked by a pair of Sekhmet statues, contains 9 mummies, some of which are suspended above the coffin basins on multi-level supports, with each level illuminated by LED tubes. I visited the galleries in the summer of 2015 during a trip with P.A.D.E.S. - Plymouth and District Egyptology Society - with 5 other members of the Egyptian Society Taunton , on whose committee I serve as webmaster. In the Liverpool galleries I photographed 6 objects originally from Deir el-Medina which were on display at the time. The museum currently holds a further 4 objects whose provenance is now known to be Deir el-Medina - these are added to the list below. In order to make this list complete, I have also added 2 additional objects which were unfortunately destroyed during the 1941 bombing and are therefore no longer part of the museum's collection. It is interesting to note that the majority of the objects listed below - 8 out of 12 - are from Deir el-Medina and were part of Joseph Mayer's original collection with which he opened his Egyptian Museum in 1852. This was a very early date for objects from the settlement, as no scientific excavation of the site had yet been undertaken. The objects must have been either illicitly excavated by the locals in the early 19th century and/or collected by Bernardino Drovetti, the French Consul General, or Henry Salt, the British Consul General, in the 1810s, or by John Gardner Wilkinson, the pioneering English Egyptologist, who recorded information on several tombs at Deir el-Medina in the 1820s. Mayer had acquired the collection in 1839 from Joseph Sams, a Darlington bookseller, who himself had acquired it between 1830 and 1838 as part of the Egyptian collection of Charles Bogaert, a Bruges businessman (see Sams, Joseph: 'Ancient Egypt: Objects of Antiquity forming part of the Extensive and Rich Collections from Ancient Egypt, brought to England by, and now in the possession of, J Sams", London, 1839, pl.22,2). It has also been suggested that Bogaert received his collection as repayment of a debt from Jean-Baptiste de Lescluze, a Belgian shipowner and merchant who had collected the material in Egypt between 1824 and 1825 (NML,2018). The remaining 4 objects were part of a large donation of some 200 objects from the Trustees of the Wellcome Institute in 1973. I would like to thank the Liverpool World Museum and its staff, in particular Dr Ashley Cooke, Head of Antiquities & Curator of Egyptology, for kindly allowing me to include the museum's finds from Deir el-Medina on my website and for providing me with high quality images of the objects, and Maureen Smith, PA to the Director of the World Museum, for her assistance. All images © National Museums Liverpool Photography by Lenka Peacock and National Museums Liverpool Fragment of an offering stela From Deir el-Medina Ramesside, possibly 19th dynasty Limestone Dimensions: 15x17x4 cms Inv. no.: 1973.2.340 Gift of the Trustees of the Wellcome Collection, 1971 Currently not on display This fragment is the lower left part of a larger stela carved in fine sunken relief. The right side shows a man kneeling with his arms raised in worship, looking to the left. On the basis of similar votive stelae from Deir el-Medina, it can be assumed that the upper register, which is now missing, bore the image of a deity, royal person or high official (vizier) whom the man is worshipping. He is clean-shaven or bald and wears an ankle-length kilt. Traces of brownish pigment remain on his head and arms. On the left, the kneeling man faces 3 vertical columns with hieroglyphic inscriptions. Translation: Line 1: the Ka of the Servant of the Place of Truth Line 2: Pa-hy-Hat, the justified, Line 3: and his son, the Servant... Transliteration: Line 1: kA n sDm- m st-mAat Line 2: pA-xy-HAt mAa-Xrw tr Line 3: i sA.f sDm- The name is not easy to read and the identity of the person mentioned is not yet certain. The available corpus of Deir el-Medina texts does not mention a Pahyhat with the title "sDm m st mAat" - the "Servant in the Place of Truth". of the Truth". We do know of a Pahyhat with the title of "Water Carrier" - "pA-xy-HA.t in-mw" - in lines 4-5 of the hieratic text of an ostrakon now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford O.Ashmolean 56, who is known from this particular text dated to year 3 of Ramesses IV (c. 1152 BC) - 20th Dynasty - where Pahyhat delivers grain and vegetables with his well-known contemporary, Pentaweret. Richard Mandeville lists him in his master's thesis on the water carriers of Deir el-Medina written at the University of Liverpool (Mandeville, 16). Pahyhat in the text on this stela gives his title as "Servant of the Place of Truth" and not as "Water-carrier", so although this gives us evidence that individuals with this name existed at Deir el-Medina, this must be a different Pahyhat, one about whom we have not yet found any additional information. Some Egyptologists suggest that his identity is that of PAy, the Servant of the Place of Truth, who was active at Deir el-Medina from the reign of Horemheb until early in the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1319-1280 BC). The date of the stela, as suggested on stylistic grounds, coincides with the 19th dynasty (c. 1290-1270 BC). Gina Criscenzo-Laycock points out the way the man's raised arms are depicted. Unlike most contemporary votive stelae from Deir el-Medina, where the arms of the worshipper are raised with a gap between them, this stele shows them almost overlapping. In her article (Criscenzo-Laycock,2011,123) the author lists 2 other stelae with the same feature, both in the British Museum (BM EA278 and BM EA374 ). The author mentions the lack of space as a possible reason for the missing gap between the raised arms, or it is possible that the listed stelae are all the work of the same craftsman. The author dates this stela on stylistic grounds to the reign of Ramesses II, comparing it with 5 stelae from the Turin collection (50030, 50034, 50036, 50037, 50066), where she finds certain specific stylistic elements common to all 6 stelae. The stele was bought by Henry Wellcome at an auction at the turn of the 20th century. A small piece of the auction label remains on the back of the object. No details of its exact provenance or date of discovery are known today (Criscenzo-Laycock,2011,123). Walking stick 19th dynasty (around 1295-1186 BC) Inscribed and polished wood Remains of blue pigment Length: 46.5 cms Diameter: 2.1 cms Inv. no: M13821 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 A distinction should be made between the owner of TT217, the well-known sculptor Ipuy(i), who lived at Deir el-Medina during the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279-1213 B.C.) in the 19th dynasty, and the family of the sculptor Piay(ii), who served under Horemheb, Ramesses I and Seti I (c.1319-1279) and a workman Ipuy(vii) who is attested between year 1 of Amenmesses (c.1203-1200 B.C.) and at least year 1 of Siptah (c.1194-1188 B.C.) (Davies, 1996, 214) and to whom this object may have belonged. However, the name, even when accompanied by the title, is too general to allow for precise identification. Although the lower part of the object is lost, the complete inscription survives in the form of a carefully carved single vertical column of hieroglyphs, read from top to bottom. Much of the original blue pigment used to fill in the characters remains on the wood. The wood was originally polished and is now split where the staff was broken in half. In ancient Egypt, sticks and staffs were always regarded as insignia of status, authority and rank. This fact is supported by tomb paintings of the elite as well as by archaeological finds. (Wiese,2004,326) There is another example of a New Kingdom walking stick in the Liverpool Museum, but it is not inscribed -59.32.189 Translation of the inscription: The one greatly favoured by his god, Amun-Re, [who is] in Ipet-sut (= the temples of Karnak), the august god within the Ennead (?) Ipuy Transliteration of the inscription: Hsy aA n nTr.f Jmn-Ra m Jpt-swt nTr Sps m-Xnw psDt jn TAty tp m st J-pw-y Spss More information: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/walking-stick-5 Hieratic ostrakon From Deir el-Medina 20th dynasty Limestone Dimensions: 20 x 19 cm Inv. no.: M13624 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Item is not currently on display The ostrakon is inscribed on both sides. The recto consists of 9 horizontal lines of hieratic inscription in black ink and contains the opening lines of the Prophecy of Neferty from Papyrus Petersburg 1116B recto. The verse consists of 9 lines of hieratic inscription written in black ink and contains a list of the household, giving the name of the householder with his title, followed by the name of his wife and their children, but without affiliations. It is impossible to tell from its format whether this household list is a draft declaration or notes for a local, domestic purpose. The list illustrated the relationship of the individual to the demands of authority (Eyre,2013,217-218). Hieratic ostrakon From Deir el-Medina 19th dynasty, reign of Merenptah (around 1213–1203 BC) Limestone Dimensions: 16.5 x 11.5 cm Inv. no.: M13625 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 This limestone ostrakon is inscribed on both sides. There are 10 horizontal lines of hieratic inscription on the obverse and 9 horizontal lines of hieratic inscription on the reverse. Both black and red ink is used. Professor Jaroslav Černý suggested that both sides were inscribed by the same hand (Černý, Gardiner, "Hieratic Ostraca" (1957), plates 63 and 63a). It has been noted that the contents are various accounts of supplies and work done, i.e. in connection with a coffin and several feasts. Professor Mark Collier of the University of Liverpool gave a brief account of the inscription in 2013: “The recto opens with four lines specifying items given to an unnamed individual at a series of festivals (festivals of Taweret, Hathor and Meretseger). Lines 5 onwards are repeated instances of giving (but without specified occasion), all probably as recompense for some activity. The verso starts with a section (verso lines 1–5) of memorandum of items connected to work of 'my three lads', possibly people within a workshop. Verso line 6 end is a memorandum concerning a bed which ends up with Anupemheb, who saws off some wood for use in a coffin”. Hieratic ostrakon From Deir el-Medina 19th-20th dynasty (about 1295-1069 BC) Limestone Black ink 14.5 x 10 cms Inv. no: M13626 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 This limestone ostrakon is inscribed on both sides: the obverse (pictured) contains 9 horizontal lines of hieratic script in black ink, the reverse contains a further 7 lines of the script, mostly in black ink, except for the beginning of line 4, which is written in red. The account contains a list of wooden items produced by a carpenter for a customer. The receipt shows the value of the items in copper deben. Most of the items are of a funerary nature - 2 outer anthropoid coffins, 1 inner anthropoid coffin, 1 shabti box, blue pigment and another coffin. The total value of the goods is 112 deben. Wooden cubit rod From Deir el-Medina Late 18th dynasty Length: 52 cms Width: 3.5 cms Inv. no: M13825 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 The royal cubit was the main unit of measurement used in ancient Egypt to determine the length of objects or short distances. It measures 52.4 cm, which is approximately the length of an adult man's forearm from the elbow to the fingertips. It was made up of 7 palm widths of 4 thumb widths each (28 digits to the cubit) (Shaw,1995,174). On this particular rod the divisions of the cubit are marked on average at 1.9, 3.8 and 7.6 cm. One edge of the rod has a sloping surface. One side of the object is carved with a hieroglyphic inscription, written from right to left, containing a funerary offering formula to Amun-Re, Ptah and Thoth on behalf of Nakhy, a tomb builder from Deir el-Medina. Translation: An offering which the King gives to Amun-Re and to Ptah, Lord of the Two Lands, and to Thoth, Lord of Divine Words, great god who dwells in Hermopolis, so that they may give life, prosperity and health, and a good lifespan, following their Ka's, for the Ka of the Servant in the Place of Thruth, Any. This workman Nakhy should not be confused with the workman Nakhy, son of Bukentef, who lived at the end of the 19th dynasty or with the latter's grandfather, the chief craftsman Nakhy, who came from another family. The workman Nakhy and his wife are known from following objects now in other European museums: - stela no. 50010 in the Turin Museum (M .Tosi and A. Roccati, "Stele e altre epigrafi di Deir el Medina. (n. 50001-50262) : Pubblicate con il contributo del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche" (Turin, 1972), 43-4) - a limestone tomb-relief in the British Museum no. 281 (Bierbrier, M L, "Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae etc.", Part 10, London, BMP, 1982) - funerary cones discovered in pit 1138 at Deir el-Medina (B. Bruyère, "Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Médineh; (1928)" (Cairo, 1929), 12-16). More information: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/inscribed-cubit-rod Shabti of Pay From Deir el-Medina New Kingdom (Ramesside Period, around 1295-1186 BC) Wood Length: 20.5 cms Inv. no: M13603 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 This is a painted wooden shabti of Pay. The arms of the shabti crossed over the chest and the bandaged lower body indicate that the figure is mummified, identifying it with the god Osiris, who is also depicted in this manner. The heavy, tripartite wig is plain, painted black with gold bands at the ends. The wig rests on an elaborate and colourful wesekh collar with four rows of black and red ornaments. The protruding hands are painted red, indicating that the figure is male. In its present state there is no trace of tools. A pair of square woven baskets are carried behind each shoulder. The shabti's beautifully carved face is painted red with large eyes outlined in black. The body is painted yellow over a white ground, with eight horizontal lines of hieroglyphic inscription written in black ink within a red frame around the figure's body. Pay's name and title are given within the text, which is the usual Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead. Translation: "The illuminated one, the Osiris, the Draughtsman, Pay, the justified, he speaks: O, these shabtis, if one counts, if one reckons the Osiris, the Draughtsman, Pay, the justified, to do all works that are to be done there in the underworld – now indeed obstacles are implanted therewith – as a man at his duties, to cultivate the marsh, to irrigate the riverbank fields, to ferry by boat sand of the east to the west, ?, if one counts, if one reckons ... ‘here I am’ … Pay". Transliteration: sHD Wsir sS qd PAy mAa-xrw Dd.f i.Swbty ipn ir ip.tw ir Hsb.tw Wsir sS qd PAy mAa-xrw m kAt nbt irrt im Xrt-nTr ist Hw sdbw im [m] s r Xrt.f srwd sxt r smHt wdbw r Xnt Sa [r] iAbt r imnt iry ip.tw iry Hsb.tw ... m.k ... PAy There are 2 men with the name Pay and the title "draftsman" known from Deir el-Medina. Pay(i), son of Ipuy(v), and his grandson, also a draughtsman, Pay(ii), son of Prehotep (Davies,1996,180). This shabti figure could belong to either of them. Mummy mask From Deir el-Medina New Kingdom, 1550-1069 BC Cartonnage Dimensions: 20 cmx28 cm Inv. no: 1973.2.423 Gift of the Trustees of the Wellcome Collection, 1971 Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 This striking cartonnage mask, which was used to cover the head of a mummy, is very similar in style to the New Kingdom masks found in the tombs of Deir el-Medina. The mask was glued to the mount when it was part of the Wellcome Collection. After becoming part of the Liverpool Museums collection, the object was conserved in 1993-1994, when the flaking paint was consolidated, but it is currently impossible to remove the mount without damaging the mask. Cartonnage appeared during the Old Kingdom. It consisted of layers of linen or papyrus glued together with resin and then covered with plaster. It was moulded to the shape of the body to make mummy cases or masks. When the material was dry, it was painted. In September 2020, I saw one of the oldest known examples of this practice at the Kings of the Sun exhibition at the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. The object came from the 5th dynasty mastaba of the Central Abusir of Mernefu. It was found in its burial chamber, placed over the face of the deceased's mummy. It is kept in the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague, Inv. no. P 5704. The materials used to make cartonnage changed over time. In the Middle Kingdom it was common to use plastered linen, in the Third Intermediate Period linen and stucco, in the Ptolemaic period old papyrus scrolls and in the Roman period thicker fibrous materials. For further information: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/mummy-mask-1 Fragments of a pottery bowl From Deir el-Medina 18th dynasty, 1550-1295 BC Pottery Black and red pigment Dimensions: 5.2 cm x 7.7 cm x 1 cm Inv. no.: 1973.1.698a - top image Inv. no.: 1973.1.698b - bottom image Gift of the Trustees of the Wellcome Collection, 1971 Ex Wellcome collection inv. W34/22(3) Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3 The fragment shown above forms the rim and part of the base of a of a shallow bowl of polished terracotta. Black and red borders run horizontally across the top and bottom of the fragment. A jumping horse, held by a fragmentary arm on a rope, is painted in red and black pigments. The lower object consists of 4 fragments glued together and depicts a similar scene with a horse without an arm. To the right of the horse is a partial depiction of an ankh . There are 3 very similar fragments in the Louvre collection that appear to be from the same vessel. Two of these are on display in gallery 5, in display case 1, alongside other figured ostraca from Deir el-Medina. E12968A and E12968B+ C - excavated by Bernard Bruyère during his first season at Deir el-Medina from an undecorated tomb of 1095 in the 18th dynasty cemetery. All the fragments seem to show Greek influence. Could the vessel be of Minoan or Mycenaean origin? Could it have come to Thebes and later to Deir el-Medina as part of an import? Or was it Minoan influence, as now suggested by a modern comprehensive comparative study of murals at several New Kingdom sites that reflect Egyptian artistic production? Perhaps chemical analysis of the fragments will answer some of these intriguing questions. More information: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/bowl-sherd http://egyptomusee.over-blog.com/article-salle-5-vitrine-1-les-ostraca-figures-avec-bovides-37046325.html Stele dedicated to Meretseger From Deir el-Medina 19th dynasty Limestone Height: 20.9 cms Width: 16 cms Inv. no: M13830 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 In the upper half of this round stele there are six serpents, all facing to the right and painted in yellow and black. The lower half of the stela is divided into 2 registers: in the right register there is the figure of a kneeling woman, facing left, with her arms raised in worship. She was named Henut by Newberry and Peet. She wears a long, finely pleated white linen dress and a perfumed cone on top of her long, elaborately curled black wig. In the left register of the lower half of the stela there are four vertical lines of hieroglyphic text written in dark colour and read from left to right, top to bottom. Translation of the text: Giving adoration to the Ka of Meretseger, Lady of the Western Desert, Mistress of Heaven, Lady of all the gods, that she might give life, health and prosperity to the Ka of the servant ... The rest of the text is very unclear. According to Peet the stele was "almost perfectly preserved", was well-executed and finely coloured. Meretseger, the "One who loves silence", was worshipped as the protective goddess of the Theban necropolis, often depicted in the form of a snake or as the Theban peak itself. This stele was on display in the 1930's and was almost certainly destroyed in 1941. Peet examined it while preparing his guide to the Gallery and his notes of the inscription are used here (Newberry-Peet,1932,53,11). Stele dedicated to Meretseger From Deir el-Medina 19th-20th dynasty Limestone Height: 12 cms Width: 14.5 cms Inv. no: M13832 Gift of Joseph Mayer, 1867 This limestone votive stele was also dedicated to the goddess Meretseger. The single scene is framed by a line border that follows the curve of this short, wide stela (possibly only the upper half). Meretseger is depicted with a female body and a serpent's head, seated on a throne facing right in front of a table piled with offerings. In her right hand she holds the Ankh-sign and in her left hand the Was-sceptre. She wears a high double-feathered crown. Around the scene there are 5 columns of vertical hieroglyphic inscriptions giving Meretseger's epithets. Translation of the text: Meretseger, the Peak of the West, Lady of the Sky, Mistress of all the gods. The technique of the stele execution was described as good - the lines were clearly carved and the scene was well proportioned (Newbery-Peet,1932,53,9). Sources: 1. Bienkowski, Piotr : Gifts of the Nile : Ancient Egyptian arts and crafts in Liverpool Museum London : HMSO, 1995 2. Criscenzo-Laycock, G.: A New Ramesside Stela from Deir el-Medina, IN: Ramesside Studies in Honour of K.A. Kitchen / edited by M. Collier and S. Snape, Bolton, 2011, pp. 123-126. 3. Mandeville, Richard: The water-carriers of Deir el-Medina Study written for his M.A. thesis at the Liverpool University, the text supplied through private e-mail correspondence 4. Eyre, Christopher: The use of documents in Pharaonic Egypt Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013. 5. Newberry-Peet: Handbook and Guide to the Egyptian Collection on Exhibition in the Public Museums, Liverpool, 1932 6. Oakey, Michael : Liverpool World Museum’s Ancient Egypt Gallery reopens after major expansion IN: KMT a Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 28, Nu. 4, Winter 2017-18, pp. 43-57 7. Shaw, Ian, Nicholson, Paul: British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt London: British Museum Press, 1995. 8. Tutankhamun - The Golden Beyond : Tomb Treasures from the Valley of the Kings / edited by André Wiese and Andreas Brodbeck Basel : Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig, 2004. 9. Davis, Benedict G.: Genealogies and personality characteristics of the workmen in the Deir el-Medina community during the Ramesside period. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Liverpool : University of Liverpool, February 1996. On-line resources: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/world-museum/exhibition/ancient-egypt http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org http://egyptomusee.over-blog.com/article-salle-5-vitrine-1-les-ostraca-figures-avec-bovides-37046325. html Further bibliography Back to top

On the path leading northeast from the Valley of the Queens to Deir el-Medina, rising from the desert is a low hill, into the slope of which a few reliefs and inscriptions of Ramesside kings have been cut. To the right of them there is a rock-cut sanctuary of deities, who guarded Theban necropolis The Rock shrine The number of chapels and shrines dedicated to various deities by the Deir el-Medina community indicates their devotion and need for public religious expression. Each individual chapel would have provided a local residence for the god or goddess to whom it was dedicated and an area for offerings to that deity. The chapels symbolise the community's recognition of both local and national gods. On the narrow path leading north-east from the Valley of the Queens to the village of Deir el-Medina, a low hill rises from the desert, its slope carved with several reliefs and inscriptions of Ramesside kings. To the right of these is a rock-cut sanctuary dedicated to the gods who guarded the Theban necropolis. Today the chapels are numbered A-G. One shrine was dedicated in the New Kingdom to the goddess Meretseger, another to Ptah. The sanctuary was probably begun during the Ramesside period. Several large stelae dating from the reign of Ramesses III (1182-1151 BC) have been carved into the rock at the northern end of the sanctuary. They are decorated with scenes of human beings before various deities. Stone walls surround an irregular courtyard of the large cave-like shelter at the southern end. During the Coptic period it was used by hermits. Today it is known to the locals as the "Snake Room". They are damaged and worn, but the inscriptions are legible and there are cartouches with the name of the king. Detail of a hieroglyphic inscription - nsw-bity nb tawy - "the dual king of the two lands". Pharaoh Setnakhte (1185-1182 BC) with the goddesses Mut of Asher and Hathor receiving the symbol of the Heb-sed festival from Amun-Ra and Ptah. The walls of the shrine still show traces of the original pigment. Ptah's original cultic association seems to have been with craftsmen. The high priest of Ptah held the title wr kheper hmw - "supreme leader of craftsmen". This badly eroded wall shows the remains of a relief of the goddess Meretseger with the head of a cobra. She was the goddess associated with the pyramidal top of al-Qurn and presided over the entire Theban necropolis. Her name means "she who loves silence". She was worshipped mainly by the workmen of the royal necropolis. The site was first excavated in 1905 by Ernesto Schiaparelli. Fragments found there date back to the 19th dynasty. As the rock that once formed the roof of the sanctuary had collapsed in several places and the whole sanctuary was full of stones and sand, the French Institute carried out the clearing of the site in 1926. Special permission was needed from the Egyptian Antiquities Service, as the rock-cut sanctuary was already outside the boundaries of the French concession. "Only a small number of workmen sufficed for the excavation; most problematic were the large boulders which had to be either crushed by stones and carried away piece by piece, or pulled out of the sanctuary on ropes. After turning over of one boulder, which had once formed a wall of the sanctuary, a stela was discovered engraved with scenes and inscriptions. We decided that we could not leave the stela in its place. As the stone was too heavy to be transported into our house, the scene with inscription was to be cut off. But before we received the necessary tools - we were not equipped for work of this kind - the entire stone was stolen at night and no trace of it or of the thieves was ever found. Fortunately, we had taken photographs after the discovery, as well as a hand copy and a proof leaf, so at least for study the stone is not completely lost. The photographs were sent to all antiquarians with a warning not to buy the inscription, because is stolen but I think that after some years the thieves will nonetheless succeed to sell it and the stone will appear in a European or American museum." The excerpts came from Jaroslav Černý's manuscript of his lecture called "Ten Months on Excavations in Egypt", which was held in Cairo on April 4th 1932. View of the Theban hills in the west from inside the rock shrine "Ptah of the Place of Beauty", a term frequently mentioned in ancient sources, is Ptah from one of the sanctuaries at the rock-cut shrine near the Valley of the Queens ("the Place of Beauty"). Traces of small stone huts of Ramesside date have been found in the area opposite the shrine of Ptah. About 10 metres down the path towards the Valley of the Queens we found this ancient graffiti. Vandalism in the form of modern graffiti Photography on this page © Lenka and Andy Peacock Sources: 1. Weeks, Kent R.: The treasures of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings Cercelli : White Star Publishers, 2005. 2. Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el-Medina / edited by Leonard H. Lesko Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1994. 3. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London : Thames & Hudson, 2003. 4. Černý, Jaroslav: A community of workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside period Cairo : Institut Francais d'archeologie Orientale du Caire, 1973. 5. Théby : město bohů a faraónů = Thebes : city of gods and pharaohs / Jana Mynářová & Pavel Onderka (eds.) Praha : Národní Museum, 2007. 6. http://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/sanctuary-of-ptah-and-meretseger/ Further bibliography Back to top

Diet was varied, balanced and nutritious at Deir el-Medina. We have ample information, concerning food and drink, surviving through depictions of food processing and consumption in the funerary art, and in the form of actual food remains from funerary, religious and domestic finds. Food and drink at Deir el-Medina The diet at Deir el-Medina was varied, balanced and nutritious. We have a wealth of information about food and drink from depictions of food processing and consumption in funerary art, and from actual food remains from funerary, religious and domestic finds. Villagers received their food in the form of regular rations as wages (coinage did not exist in Egypt before the 26th Dynasty). The rations consisted mainly of grain, water, beer and oils, but also firewood, sandals, pottery, ointments, clothing and other items. Grain The vizier and the superintendent of the royal treasury were responsible for distributing grain to families in Deir el-Medina. Careful records of the allocations were kept by the village scribe. Wages were paid on the last working day of each month. Monthly rations of emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) were recorded in dry units: 1 khar was 76.89 litres. A foreman received 5 1/2 khar of wheat, a craftsman 4 khar, but a scribe only 2 3/4 khar. Jac Janssen points out that the scribe worked for both "sides" of the "crew", so he received the payment twice and thus earned the same as a foreman. Similarly, a doctor was paid 1 khar of wheat, but Jac Janssen believes that this was a supplement to the regular craftsman's wage that he also received. Emmer wheat was ground on an arrangement of stones known as a saddle quern. Stone-ground flour contained fragments of stone and grains of sand, which, according to the skeletal remains found in the village graves, were harmful to teeth. The flour was used to make bread and cakes. Although yeast was known at the time, bread was generally unleavened. It was baked either in an oven or in the embers of a fire. Many different types of bread were made. Some were formed by hand, others in moulds. Bread moulds are a common type of pottery found at Deir el-Medina. The ancient Egyptian language had many different words for bread and cakes. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) was used to make bread and beer, the two staples of the Egyptian diet. A workman received 1 1/2 khar of barley, and captains received 2 khar of barley per month. The basic ingredients for making beer were water and partially baked barley bread. Sieved together, the resulting mixture was left to ferment. It could be sweetened with honey to speed up the fermentation process. The final product could have been enhanced with various flavours, including fruit and herbs. Beer would have been a thick, soupy liquid, not always highly alcoholic, but nutritious, which is why it was given to children. Ostrakon Cairo 25608 The rations distributed for the second month of summer /a: The chief workman 2 sacks (barley) 5 ½ sacks (emmer) The scribe 2 5 ½ 17 men, each makes 1 ½ 4 that is 25 ½ + 68 2 young men, each amounts to ½ 1 ½ that is 1 + 3 The guardian 1 ½ 3 ¼ The maidservants /b 1 ½ 1 ¼ The doorkeeper ½ 1 The doctor /c ¼ 1 Total /d 32 ½ 84 ¾ (Translation from McDowell, 1999, p. 233) Notes: a/ Deliveries for the Left side only b/ This is the total for all slave women c/ The doctor was also a regular member of the crew, so this is likely an extra pay he received for healing d/ In reality, the total is: 34 ¼ and 88 ½ . To be considered: Was this scribe bad at maths? Or did he cheat on purpose and keep the rest of the grain for himself? (There are other instances where the total written is lower than the real sum.) Water Water was delivered daily to Deir el-Medina by the water carriers. It was measured in khar like grain. It was used for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene (laundry was done by "laundry men" in the river). Consumption: 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 khar per day per household (about 6 people) = 16-19 litres per day per person. To read more about the Great Pit click here . Ostracon DeM 60 (in the French Institute in Cairo) What Neferhotep said, in the 3rd winter month, day 22 (Note: this is the 19th Dynasty): Water deficit for the Left side: Prehotep 1 ½ sack Nebamente 1 ½ sack Khabekhent 1 sack The watchman ¼ sack The servant woman Saroy ½ sack Total of the Left side 4 ¾ sack Vegetables Beans and lentils, garlic, lettuce, leek and cucumber were among the most regular supplies of vegetables. Fruits Various fruits, such as dates, figs, grapes, pomegranates, melons, dom-palm nuts, more rarely apples, olives and almonds, were available to the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina. As well as being eaten raw, grapes were also used to make wine, a prestigious drink. After harvesting, the grapes were pressed, either in a cloth twisted between poles or by trampling them with the feet. The juice was poured into vats to ferment and then poured into earthenware jars to age. The shoulder of a jar was usually inscribed with details of the liquid inside, sometimes including the variety, vineyard, date, production manager or owner. Other alcoholic drinks were made from fermented dates, figs and pomegranates. Dates and figs are an excellent source of energy. They were used in many desserts. The villagers consumed fruit from a regular date palm and also from sycamore trees, which produced smaller and yellower dates. The Dom palm (Hyphaene thebaica) produces a fruit that looks like a small pomegranate. The nut inside contains sweet oil. Fish Fish was an important part of the villagers' diet. It was served as a substitute for more expensive meat. Fish were plentiful in the Nile. The most common species were mullet and tilapia. In Deir el-Medina, fishermen were employed to provide some of the villagers' rations. Each crew received about 250 kg of fish per month. The fish was salted for preservation, baked or roasted. Meat In Deir el-Medina, meat was not eaten every day. It was considered a treat. It was usually provided in the form of whole animals from the temple stockyards, or simply as individual portions. Oxen, hares, gazelles and other wild animals would have been eaten and used as a source of fat. Cows, goats, sheep and donkeys were kept to provide milk. Ducks and chickens were kept for eggs and meat. Honey Honey was made from both wild and domestic bees. It was used to turn bread into cakes and to sweeten beer. In Deir el-Medina, confectioners were employed to prepare honey cakes for the workmen. Seasonings Salt, cinnamon, celeriac herb, juniper berries, cumin. Ostrakon Cairo 25504 Year 8 of Merenptah. On day 20 of the second month of the inundation season someone came to the workmen to reward the crew. He gave them as reward: 9000 loaves of bread 20 menet-jars of sesame oil 9000 [...] fish 20 sacks of salt and 600 blocks of natron 6 sacks of malt [...] 3 sacks of beans [...] of kdy-beer (Translation from McDowell, 1999, p. 225) Ostrakon DeM 46 (in the French Institute in Cairo) Mentions the delivery of the following articles on a particular day: 11 oxen 9 more received a few days later, which are said to be shared out The next month there came 5 head of cattle: 4 for the crew and 1 for the three leaders, the chief workmen and the scribe That day also 280 fish received Ostrakon Stockholm MM 14126 (water delivery, probably for one day) [House of] Nebamente ¼ sack House of Amenakhte, son of Dgdy ½ sack House of Mose ½ sack House of Pashedu, son of Harmose ½ sack House of Karo ½ sack [House of Pashedu], son of Hehnakht ¼ sack [House of] … ¼ sack [House of] … son of Sibe ½ sack etc. Ostrakon P2027 (Náprstek Museum, Prague) "Said by Ta-khenty-shepse to her sister Iyt. In life, prosperity and health! Furthermore, to theeffect that: I will send this grain to you and you should have it ground for me and add emmer to itand make it into bread for me, because I am quarrelling with Mery-Ma'at. "(I will) throw you out,"so he says, when he quarrels with my mother enquiring after grain for bread. "Now, your motherdoes not do anything for you," so he says to me, saying "now, you have siblings, but they do not lookafter you!" So he says, arguing with me daily: "Now look, this is what you have done to me since Ihave lived here, although everyone supplies beer and fish daily (to) their people. In short, if yousay something, you will go down to the Black Land (the cultivation)". It is good if you attend". (Translation from McDowell, 1999, p. 42) 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! Ostrakon Gardiner 59 (in Oxford) Written by the workmen to a Vizier: To let our Lord (the Vizier) know: As regards the vegetables, oil, fish, our garments, our ointment and our grain rations, our Lord himself (Pharaoh) has provided us with these means of subsistence. And finally, try this... Place 1 large courgette and 2 large leeks, finely sliced, in a deep frying pan with a little olive oil. Cover the pan with a lid. Cook the vegetables gently for 15 minutes. In a bowl, mix the pieces of pitta bread with the pine nuts and soak them in the milk. Beat 3 eggs and add salt and herbs. When the vegetables are soft, fold in the bread and nuts. Put the mixture on a baking tray and pour the spiced eggs over it. Cook in the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes. Once browned on the surface, carefully remove from the tray and leave to cool. Cut into wedges. All ingredients would have been available in Pharaonic Egypt: vegetables were grown on a large scale (Nunn, 1996, p. 13) bread was a staple of Egyptian diet and was made from emmer-wheat (Shaw, 1995, p. 101) olive oil was pressed from olives eggs came from domestic hens and were also collected from wildfowl (Shaw, 1995, p. 102) milk would have come from cows, goats, sheep or asses (Nunn,1996, p.14-16) pine oil and nuts were used in cooking. Choose organically grown and produced ingredients to come as close as possible in the taste to the meal that could have been served by Wia to her Ramose in ancient Deir el-Medina. Bon Appétit! The text on this page was written by Lenka Peacock Photography © Lenka and Andy Peacock Sources: 1. Berriedale-Johnson, Michelle: Food fit for Pharaohs : an ancient Egyptian cookbook London : British Museum Press, 1999. 2. Nunn, John F.: Ancient Egyptian medicine London : British Museum Press, 1996. 3. Shaw, Ian: British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt London : British Museum Press, 1995. 4. Strouhal, Evzen: Life of the ancient Egyptians Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 1997. 5. McDowell, A.G.: Village life in ancient Egypt : laundry lists and love songs Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999. 6. http://www.webkatalog.sk/egypt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=32 (no longer exists) Further Bibliography Back to top

The temple complex area of Deir el-Medina is situated at the northern end of the village. It contains the remains of a number of temples dating from the New Kingdom to Ptolemaic times. The most prominent one is the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to goddesses Hathor and Maat. The temples of Deir el-Medina The temple area of Deir el-Medina is located at the northern end of the village. It contains the remains of a number of temples dating from the New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic period. The most prominent is the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the goddesses Hathor and Maat. The building itself is small, but is one of the best preserved examples of a temple from this period. It stands within a mud-brick enclosure. Its complex includes the site of several New Kingdom temples and small chapels built by the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina. Below is the view of the northern side of the settlement. Within the mud-brick enclosure wall stands the small building of the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the goddesses Hathor and Maat (A). Across the valley from the Ptolemaic enclosure are the remains of the temple of Amun and the other members of the Theban triad (B). The site of the temple of Amenhotep I (C) . A B C The text on this page was written by Lenka Peacock Photography © Lenka and Andy Peacock Sources: 1. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete temples of Ancient Egypt. London : Thames & Hudson, 2000. 2. Weeks, K. R. : The treasures of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Vercelli : White Star, 2005. 3. Bourguet, Pierre du: Le temple de Deir al-Medina Caire : Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, 2002. Back to top

Opposite Deir el-Medina's Hathor temple, across the valley to the east, remains of a temple to Amun and the other members of the Theban triad (Mut and Khonsu) stand. The temple was built by Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC). The temple of Amun of Ramesses II The temple complex is located on the northern side of the settlement of Deir el-Medina. The small building of the Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor stands within the mud-brick wall. Opposite the Hathor temple, across the valley to the east, are the remains of a temple dedicated to Amun and the other members of the Theban triad (Mut and Khonsu) stand. The temple was built by Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC). My aim was to compare Ann Bomann's plans and detailed descriptions using her text published in 1991 pp. 47-48 with the remains of the cult buildings at Deir el-Medina in February 2007. The results together with the photographs can be found below. The temple consisted of a forecourt, outer and inner halls, pronaos and a sanctuary. A flight of steps led to the forecourt. Its floor was once paved. Beyond the forecourt were two limestone steps leading to the entrance of the outer hall. The Outer Hall was the forecourt of the temple during the first phase of construction. Later the temple was enlarged and it became an outer hall. It had benches on both the north and south walls. The hall had two central columns. The benches and the two columns have disappeared. The outer hall measured 6.40 by 5.20 m. In front of the doorway to the inner hall there were steps in the form of tiers that spanned the width of the outer hall. A limestone threshold, made up of two unequally cut slabs, has architrave grooves and a pivot hole on the right. There may have been a single-panelled door leading to the inner hall. A flight of six steps, running between balustrades with rounded tops, leads to the pronaos. At the top of the steps there were columns on either side. The sanctuary was divided into three parts. The dimensions of the shrines were 2 m long and 1.90 m wide. View of the flight of six steps looking west towards the entrance into the pronaos. The floor of the inner hall can be seen through the doorway. Standing in the pronaos and looking west, you can see the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple - its northern part - and on the right the chapels north of the enclosure wall. Standing in the pronaos and looking south-west you can see the enclosure wall of the main temple - its southern part - and on the left the western cemetery of Deir el-Medina. The text on this page was written by Lenka Peacock Photography © Lenka and Andy Peacock Sources: 1. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete temples of Ancient Egypt. London : Thames & Hudson, 2000. 2. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites. London : Kegan Paul International, 1991. pp. 47-48 Further bibliography Back to top

The first group of the chapels at Deir el-Medina lay to the north of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple. The chapel area covers the slope gently rising towards the western steep cliffs. Chapels north of the temple enclosure wall The first group of chapels at Deir el-Medina that I investigated lies to the north of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple. The chapel area covers the slope which rises gently towards the steep cliffs to the west. My aim was to compare Ann Bomann's plans and detailed descriptions, based on her text published in 1991 pp. 48-51 with the remains of the cult buildings at Deir el-Medina in February 2007. The results, together with photographs, can be found on the following pages. The chapel of Hathor of Seti I. Seti I (c. 1291-1278 BC) built a temple for the craftsmen of the village in the area just beyond the northern side of the enclosure wall of the main temple. It was considerably larger than the earlier building of the cult temple of Amenhotep I, the remains of which can be seen on the terrace above the Ptolemaic enclosure. The chapel was excavated in 1906 by Ernesto Schiaparelli. The Chapel of Hathor of Seti I. consisted of a forecourt, outer and inner halls, a pronaos and a sanctuary, and a left wing with dependencies. The forecourt was entered from the south-east via a ramp with a central slide flanked on either side by ten steps. The forecourt was paved with limestone. It had two burial shafts (now filled in), one of which was existed before the construction of the of the chapel. The other dates from the Ramesside period. A flight of five steps leads from the forecourt to the outer hall. A bench with five seats was placed against the south wall. Bruyère suggested that another bench with seven seats should be against the north wall. Two on either side of the central axis. The floor was paved with limestone. Two steps led from the outer hall to the inner hypostyle hall. A rectangular limestone basin, which no longer exists, was set into the floor at an angle to the columns. Originally there were two limestone altars near the staircase to the west of the hall. Fragments of wall also come from this part of the chapel. A flight of seven steps led to the pronaos. View back into the inner, hypostyle hall and the outer hall behind it. Seven steps lead directly into the tripartite sanctuary. Originally the sanctuaries were symmetrical ; during the Ptolemaic period, the central and northern shrines were altered. Chapel A This chapel was oriented on a northeast-southwest axis and consisted of a large hall with a single naos. A wall forming a right angle connected the entrance of the chapel with the rear wall of the Chapel of Hathor. The hall was entered through a doorway in the north-eastern corner. At the opposite end of the hall two columns were placed in front of the naos which was flanked by two small whitewashed niches. The columns were made of papyrus and bore the name of Khons, son of Sennedjem. Fragments of decorated plaster and a head of the goddess Taweret also came from the chapel. Detail view of the remains of plaster from inside the chapel wall Chapel B The chapel consisted of a forecourt, an outer and inner hall, a sanctuary, and left annex, and lay to the north and west of Chapel A. The forecourt was 3.29m wide x 3.60m long. At one time it contained three jars of different sizes. The outer hall beyond the courtyard was 4.92m wide x 4.78m long, and had benches along its southern, eastern and part of the northern walls. Against the north-east wall was a low limestone platform. A doorway in the south-west corner led to a which was divided into two sections. Two steps led from the inner hall to the small sanctuary, which had a single niche and a bench around its walls. A limestone threshold with a pivot hole indicated that the sanctuary once had a door. A stele once lined the back wall of the niche. This may have been the stela of the foreman Amennakht, who was depicted seated holding two w3dt signs. View of chapels C and D Both chapels were the highest on the the slope and north of the north-west corner of the main wall. They shared their southern walls. Chapel C The building consisted of a forecourt and outer hall, an inner hall hall, pronaos and sanctuary. The entire building underwent several alterations. The outer hall was accessed by by two steps and was 4.44 m wide and and 3.80 m long. It had a bench against the north wall. A step led into the inner hall. Chapel F This chapel and Chapel G were called Chapelles Religieuses by Bruyère. The chapel was on an east-west axis and adjoined the north wall of Chapel B. It consisted of an outer and inner hall and pronaos. At the time of the excavation, the sanctuary had not survived. The chapel was accessed from the south-east by a double flight of 3 steps. These led to 2 terraces. From the 2nd terrace, 2 elongated steps, followed by a flight of 4 steps set between the usual balustrade, led to the outer hall. The outer hall was 4.20 m wide x 4.75 m long and had pylons in front of the entrance. According to Bruyère, the pylons were 85 cm thick. An inserted brick pillar stood in the centre of the centre of the southern wall and once supported a supported a main beam of the roof. A limestone staircase leading to the inner rooms seems to have originally had 6 steps, but the plans and this photograph (after reconstruction) show only 5. The remaining 5 limestone steps. Inner Hall. A bench 3.25 m long, 34 cm wide and 35 cm high was placed against the south wall. This in turn adjoined a limestone platform in the south-east corner, measuring 1.64 m x 88 cm x 26 cm high. On the north wall the bench was 1.37 m long x 38 cm wide x 46 cm high. There are remains of a trough in the outermost pier. Inner Hall. A bench 3.25 m long, 34 cm wide and 35 cm high adjoined the south wall. This in turn adjoined a limestone platform in the south-east corner measuring 1.64 m x 88 cm x 26 cm high. On the north wall the bench was 1.37 m long x 38 cm wide x 46 cm high. Chapel G This chapel lay to the north of Chapel F and on a west-north-west to east-south-east axis. It dates from the Ramesside period and consisted of an access ramp, an outer and inner hall, 2 side chambers contained within the structure, a pronaos and a sanctuary. A ramp of undressed stone, set between brick balustrades and measuring 5.50m long by 2.75m wide, led to the outer hall or courtyard. The courtyard or outer hall had pylons on either side of the entrance. The southern The southern pylon was 73 cm thick, the northern 76 cm. They were plastered and whitewashed. The courtyard was 5.43 m wide x 5.47 m long and was built over an earlier burial shaft. Four limestone steps to the west of the inner hall led to a limestone platform in front of the sanctuary. On either side of the steps was a small enclosure. The sanctuary consisted of a single niche cut into the cliffs behind it, measuring 3.73 m long by 2.50 m wide. The inner back wall of the niche had a retaining wall 57 cm thick. An earlier tomb shaft. Pylons also framed the entrance to the inner hall. A limestone threshold in the entrance had 2 pivot holes and grooves for architraves, indicating that a double door served this part of the building. The inner hall was built in 3 phases. In the 3rd phase it became hypostyle, with 2 columns and a flat roof. The bases of the columns were 70 cm in diameter. The floor of the inner hall was made of packed earth. The walls were decorated. Part of the decoration consisted of a floral frieze which surrounded the wall in the style of the Ramesside period. The walls of the sanctuary adjoined them from the back. Pylons also framed the entrance to the inner hall. A limestone threshold in the entrance had 2 pivot holes and grooves for architraves, indicating that a double door served this part of the building. Detail. Photography © Lenka Peacock 2007 Sources: 1. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites. London : Kegan Paul International, 1991. 2. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete temples of Ancient Egypt. London : Thames & Hudson, 2000. 3. Clayton, Peter A.: Chronicles of the Pharaohs : the reighn-by-reign record of the rulers and dynasties of ancient Egypt London : Thames & Hudson, 1994. Further bibliography Back to top

Human remains originating from the cemeteries of Deir el-Medina, nowadays housed within the collections of the Hrdlička Museum of Anthropology, Charles University, Prague, consist of:- 3 complete mummified bodies, 8 mummified heads and 23 human skulls and several long bones. Hrdlička Museum of Man, Prague, Czech Republic The idea of establishing an anthropological museum in Prague dates back to 1922, but it was not until 1929 that Dr. Aleš Hrdlička, a famous anthropologist of Czech origin, sent a letter to Czechoslovak President T.G. Masaryk asking for the museum's establishment. He offered financial support through the establishment of funds and drew up the concept of the museum, which included four main sections that have remained in its structure to this day: The Phylogenetic Development of Man, The Cycle of Life, Race Variations and Race Pathology and Death. The Museum of Man was officially opened in 1937, when it was renamed the Hrdlička Museum of Man. https://muzeumcloveka.cz/cs/home This page contains images of human remains. Scroll down to see photographs of human remains, which include whole mummies, mummified heads and human skulls. The human remains from the cemeteries of Deir el-Medina, which are now in the collections of the Anthropological Museum Hrdlička, Charles University, Prague, consist of: 3 complete mummified bodies 8 mummified heads 23 human skulls and several long bones. They were all donated from the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo to the national collections in Prague, thanks to the efforts of the Czech Egyptologist Jaroslav Černý. Jaroslav Černý had been involved in excavations at Deir el-Medina as an inscriber since 1925 and was able to facilitate the donation. The known provenance of the mummified remains helped to date them: 6 of them were dated to the 18th-20th dynasties, the other 6 to the 21st dynasty. The skeletal remains came from the 18th dynasty tombs Nos. 1137, 1153 and 1159, excavated in 1928 by Bernard Bruyère and his team. Jaroslav Černý took part in the excavations. The skeletal remains were donated directly to the Anthropological Institute of the Charles University (they became part of the Museum of Man, renamed the Hrdlička Museum of Man in 1937) (Matiegková, 1931,324). The mummified remains (complete bodies and heads) together with several other objects, were transferred from the National Museum to the Hrdlička Museum at the end of November 1958 (Strouhal,1980,28). Although many will consider the display of human remains controversial, as the collection is part of an anthropological museum and serves as a teaching and research collection, skeletons, bones and weathered flesh are quite rightly displayed there. The aim of this page is not only to describe and show the fascinating remains on display at the museum. A summary of the mummification techniques used in ancient Egypt and issues of health and disease are also touched upon. It is my wish to bring to the attention of the reader of these pages a lesser known collection from Deir el-Medina, where I have literally come face to face with the ancient members of the community whose fascinating story I have been following for over a decade. I would like to thank the Hrdlička Museum and its staff, whose time and help were essential. The curator, Marco Stella, kindly gave me permission to publish the images on my website, and both he and Zuzana Krupová were generous with their assistance. Photographs © Hrdlička Museum of Man Photography Lenka Peacock. The text was written by Lenka Peacock based mainly on research conducted and published by Eugen Strouhal, Luboš Vyhnálek, Ludmila Matiegková and Jindřich Matiegka, with additional sources listed in the bibliography below. Skeletal remains The skeletal remains from Deir el-Medina consist of the remains of Sennefer, Neferit and a child discovered in 1928 in pit 1159 by the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo under the direction of Bernard Bruyère. The bodies were sent to Prague to the Institute of Anthropology at Charles University, wrapped in linen with labels attached (Matiegková, 1931, 324). The skulls of the two adults are described below. The consignment also included 20 skulls without the mandible (1 without the facial bones). Of these 20 skulls are without mandible (1 without facial bones). Of these 20 skulls, 5 skulls came from an 18th dynasty pit 1137 discovered by Bruyère in 1928. 4 of the skulls belonged to adults, 1 to a child. Bruyère's notes, dated 15 January 1928, recording the discovery of pit 1137, can be consulted in his notebook, published online by the IFAO: http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/?sujet=Kom+325+%3B+3.+Puits+1129+%C3%A0+ 1183.+Tombe+n%C2%B0+1&os=3 4 skulls from the 18th dynasty burial in pit 1153 discovered at the same time. Bruyère's sketch of the position of the pit in the south-west corner of the western cemetery can be seen in his notebook published online by the IFAO: http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/?sujet=Kom+325+%3B+3.+Puits+1129+%C3%A0+ 1183.+Tombe+n%C2%B0+1&os=6 The tomb of Sennefer and Neferit was undisturbed in ancient times. They were found in their coffins which contained some of their belongings. To read about the tomb, its discovery and description of its contents, as well as the description of the coffins and their contents, go to Tomb 1159. The following is a description of the skulls examined by Matiegka and Matiegková and published in 1931. Both adult bodies were left to decay with little or no mummification. No traces of resin were found on the bodies. The skeletons were largely intact. Sennefer's body was wrapped in 7 layers of linen. The body was wrapped in coarsely woven linen, although finer quality linen was used for the top layer. A layer of bandages was applied to each layer of linen wrapping. White dried maggots were found inside the coffin. They were responsible for the holes in the wrappings which caused the body fluids to stain the bottom of the coffin. There was no skin on Sennefer's body. Remnants of lungs were found in his chest in the form of a black substance. His arms were laid along his body, the palms of his hands covering his genitals. Sennefer's skull from the collection of the Hrdlička Museum Neferit's body was placed in the sycamore coffin wrapped in layers of linen. There was no cartonnage mask. There was no evidence of mummification and the deceased was not eviscerated. The remains were glued to the bottom of the coffin. Neferit's arms were placed next to her body, the palms of her hands protecting her genitals. Brown dust surrounded the skeleton. This was the disintegrated muscle and soft tissue. Remnants of skin were preserved in the chest and stomach areas. The skin on the breasts had red spots, perhaps a sign of an infectious disease. The skin on her neck still had a youthful appearance. Remains of lungs and larynx were found in the thorax. The cranial cavity contained dark red dust, the remains of the brain. The body was adorned with a necklace of turquoise, coral, lapis lazuli and gold, an arm and wrist bracelets and 2 rings. Neferit's skull from the collection of the Hrdlička Museum I would like to thank Hans Ollermann from Holland for improving the pictures of Neferit's skull. It was noted that the causes of death of both Sennefer and Neferit could not be established, nor could the order in which they died. There was no written evidence that Neferit was Sennefer's wife, but together with the baby found in the coffin next to theirs, all three seem to form a family unit. Today they are reunited, on the shelf of the museum's display case. Complete mummified bodies All 3 mummified bodies are displayed in the cabinet which is mainly dedicated to the Ancient Egyptian human and animal remains and some other Ancient Egyptian artefacts. The bodies are placed on shelves behind glass doors, so the photographs cannot be rendered into panoramas to show the bodies in one image. The cabinet is located in the second room of the museum. The bodies and body parts were part of the project "Research on Ancient Egyptian Mummies" carried out by Eugen Strouhal and Luboš Vyhnálek at the Radiological Clinic of Charles University in Prague between 1971 and 1973 (Strouhal, 1980, 5). Their research was based on radiological examination, the only widely used method at the time for non-invasive examination of bodies wrapped in ancient wrappings. The aim of the investigation was to collect medical and anthropological data on the bodies and body parts without physically disturbing the remains. No objects remaining on the bodies were removed. X-rays were taken from a focus of 1 metre and in some cases a different exposure was used to obtain a clearer image (Strouhal,1980,16). A general external examination of the remains accompanied the project and the results were compiled in a comprehensive catalogue of all known mummified remains in Czechoslovakian collections at the time. According to Bruyère, the bodies should have arrived in Prague in 3 original coffins, but these could not be located at the time of the research in the early 1970s and are therefore presumed lost (Strouhal, 1980,28). If ever found, the coffins may provide clues to the identities of the 3 individuals described below. Inv. No. 15/1 Human remains from Deir el-Medina dating to the 19th-20th dynasties The mummified body of a woman is displayed in a stretched position on the middle shelf of the cabinet. During the mummification process, the body was coated with resin, causing the surface of the skin to turn black. Resin was applied to surfaces to prevent bacterial activity and to exclude moisture (Taylor, 2001, 84). Very few mummy wrappings survive on the body. The body is missing the lower parts of both upper limbs, only the upper parts remain. Some ribs in the lower thorax are missing. The head was placed on a wooden pole in the 20th century (Strouhal,1980,31). The facial features are well preserved. The hair, eyelashes and eyebrows are well preserved and it seems that the woman suffered from a birth defect in the form of a cleft lip (Matiegková,1929,253). From the top of the head to the heels, the body measures 159 cm. According to anthropologists, the woman died between 50 and 60 years of age. Mummification was practised in ancient Egypt from the second half of the 4th millennium BC, when bodies wrapped in linen with residues of resin were found in the mid-predynastic cemetery of Hierakonpolis (Taylor, 2001, 47), until the first centuries AD. The methods of artificial preservation changed and evolved over time, but the aim remained the same - to prevent the body from decomposing and to protect it from destruction. Surviving funerary texts stress the importance of the physical body as a place for the ka and ba to be reunited in the afterlife. The stages of preparing the deceased for burial within the tomb took around 70 days. The process included washing the body, removing the brain and intestines, drying the body with natron, packing the body cavities to provide support, anointing and cosmetic treatments, wrapping the body in linen and providing the external accessories in the form of funerary masks and coffins. The process of mummification made new advances during the New Kingdom, thanks to prosperity and stability. A wider range of materials from abroad (resins and oils) also became available as a result of contact with new places (Taylor, 2001, 83). The extraction of the brain and evisceration through the abdominal incision were standard features of mummification, but the best techniques were reserved for the royal family and the highest ranking members of the court, while the rest of the population had to make do with less elaborate procedures, sometimes reduced to simply wrapping the dried body. Inv. No. 15/2 Human remains from Deir el-Medina dated to the 19th-20th dynasties The mummified body of a male is displayed in a stretched position on the top shelf of the cabinet. The right upper arm rests beside the body, but the hand and forearm are missing. The left forearm is resting on the hip and the hand is resting on the genital area. The head is turned slightly to the left. The hair is preserved. Woven linen bandages have been preserved on the arms and lower limbs. They were applied in a circular motion. The feet are bound with thicker bandages. The exposed surface of the body is darkened by resin. There are traces of varnish application (Strouhal,1980,29). From the top of the head to the heels, the body measures 162 cm. According to anthropologists, the man died between the ages of 50 and 70. X-rays showed signs of osteoporosis throughout the skeleton. The dentition is almost complete and the tongue is present in the slightly open mouth. Mummification was not always carried out by a team of professional embalmers. The textual evidence suggests that at Deir el-Medina the bodies of the community were prepared, or at least wrapped, by the workers themselves. The so-called Absence ostrakon EA 5634 , now in the British Museum, bears the attendance record of the workmen in year 40 of the reign of Ramses II. The inscription on the front tells us, among other reasons for absence, that Hehnekhu wrapped (the corpse of) his mother in the 2nd month of summer, day 7, the same was done on the 8th day; Buqentuf wrapped (the corpse of) his mother in the 2nd month of summer, day 6, the same was done on the 8th day. The inscription on the back tells us that Amenemwia was in month 1 of winter, day 15 embalming Hormose, month 3 of winter, day 6 wrapping (the corpse of) his mother; Neferabu was in month 2 of summer, day 7 embalming his brother; Rahotep was in month 2 of summer, day 5 wrapping (the corpse of) his son, day 6, day 7, the same was done on day 8. The mummy bandages were made from strips and sheets of linen, often recycled from everyday clothes and bed linen. Usually the head and limbs were wrapped individually first, then sheets of linen alternating with narrow strips were applied in layers to create the standard shape of the mummy (Taylor, 2001, 59). The quality and quantity of the wrappings varied, and not many bodies survived in their original bandages once discovered, as pieces of jewellery and amulets were sought. Inv. No. 15/3 Human remains from Deir el-Medina dating from the 19th-20th dynasties The mummified body of a male is displayed in a stretched position on the top shelf of the cabinet. The upper arms are placed at the sides of the body. The only remaining linen wrappings are on the face, where they were placed in the 20th century due to the destruction of soft tissues in this area. Dark brown hair survives on the head, as does a short beard on the chin. Several ribs are dislocated and the ribcage is fractured on both sides, but the abdominal wall, although sunken, is well preserved. The surface of the body is shiny and black due to the use of resin during the embalming process. From the top of the head to the heels, the body measures 158 cm. The bone structure was found to be normal by anthropologists. As the male's external organs were preserved, it was easy to determine the sex of the mummy. The man probably died between 40 and 50 years old (Strouhal, 1980, 33-35). Health and disease Human remains are one of the sources for the study of disease in Pharaonic times. Over the past 200 years, mummies have been unpacked, examined, and later X-rayed and scanned. Together with written evidence, based on accounts of disease in papyri and ostraca, and pictorial and statuary representations of individuals, the evidence for health and disease can be gathered. The major health problems in ancient Egypt included - parasitic diseases, especially schistosomiasis (bilharzia), caused by immersion in water infested with free-swimming worms, dracunculiasis (guinea worm), caused by swallowing infested water, filariasis, caused by mosquitoes, roundworms, tapeworms and malaria - Bacterial and viral infections, especially tuberculosis, leprosy, tetanus, plague, sepsis and abscesses, osteomyelitis, smallpox. - Deformities, especially dwarfism, clubfoot, cleft lip and hydrocephalus - Cancer and other tumours - nutritional, endocrine and metabolic disorders, especially obesity, liver disease, malnutrition - Diseases of internal organs - bones and joints - Aches and pains - Disorders of the ears, eyes and nose - Skin disorders (Nunn,1996,64-95) Heads of mummies The heads are arranged by inventory number rather than chronologically, so the evolution of the preservation of the bodies at Deir el-Medina is summarised here in order to highlight the characteristic features of the mummification process that differed between the 19th-20th dynasties and the 21st dynasty. Aidan Dodson (Demarée, 2000, p. 98) noted that none of the late 18th dynasty bodies recovered from Deir el-Medina appeared to have undergone any preservation treatment other than simple wrapping. According to Dodson, the limited degree of post-mortem treatment explains the absence of canopic jars in any of these tombs. Thus, the bodies were left to decay and only skeletons survive (see below the skulls of Sennefer and his wife Neferit). The 19th and 20th dynasty remains from Deir el-Medina show mummification techniques. The removal of the brain became a regular feature of the process, as did evisceration. The 21st dynasty saw the technical peak of mummification procedures as embalmers attempted to recreate the natural appearance of the deceased. Wrappings were placed under the shrunken skin to restore the fullness of the features. Earth, mud, linen, sawdust, sand, lichen, mixtures of the above or other materials (Taylor,2001,86). The skin was often painted - red for males and yellow for females, in keeping with artistic tradition. Inv. No. 15/6 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height: 20 cm This well-preserved head was excavated by the French Institute and donated to the Anthropological Institute in Prague, but remained in the possession of Dr Jindřich Matiegka. After his death the head was donated to the Hrdlička Museum. The head and parts of the neck have been preserved, although no linen wrapping has survived. The face is remarkably lifelike thanks to the fact that the soft tissues have not disintegrated and that the artificial eyes are still in place. The eyes are white glass with black round irises in the centre. The X-rays showed that material - perhaps linen - was stuffed into the eye sockets to hold the artificial eyes in place. The fullness of the cheeks was achieved by stuffing earth behind them, according to examination (Strouhal, 1980, 60). The nose is well preserved, but both lips are missing, revealing both sets of teeth, which are not badly worn. The entire top of the head is devoid of any soft tissue or hair, the skull being completely exposed. The anthropologists took into account the good condition of the teeth and the bone structure of the forehead and chin and concluded that the head most probably belonged to a woman who died between 30 and 40 years of age (Strouhal, 1980,60). Inv. No. 15/7 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height: 23 cm The head and neck are well preserved. The soft tissues as well as both ears and lips are preserved. Both cheeks have been modelled to give a full appearance - soil fillings were inserted into the mouth and beyond the cheeks during the mummification process. The process caused the skin to tear in several places where the incisions were made. X-rays showed shadows over the entire face, indicating that the artificial filling was under the skin (Strouhal, 1980, 71). The face was painted with red pigment and the whole head was covered with efflorescent salt (Matiegková,1929,252). There were bundles of linen in both nasal passages. As the cranial cavity also showed a similar density of filling on the x-ray, it was established that the same filling had been used as for the face, rather than the usual resin filling, which would show a denser shadow. The fact that most of the head was filled with earth also explained the heaviness of the head. Very few pieces of linen have survived on the surface. Some hair remains have been preserved. The radiological examination revealed a normal structure of the bone tissue. The teeth, which cannot be seen because the mouth is closed, showed insignificant wear on the x-ray (Strouhal, 1980, 71). Considering the fact that the connective tissue joint on the top of the head was not visible due to the presence of fillings, but the frontal connective tissue joint was open, together with the condition of the teeth, the anthropologists concluded that the head belonged to an adult male who died between the ages of 25 and 35. Inv. No. 15/8 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height: 24 cm The soft tissues of the head and neck are well preserved, but the nose and ears are missing. The skin of the face is yellowish-brown due to the artificial colouring applied during the mummification process. Remnants of straight hair are preserved. Both eyelids are open, but the artificial eye present in the left orbit is missing in the right orbit. The radiograph shows that both artificial eyes were supported by bundles of linen placed in the sockets (Strouhal, 1980, 73). Both cheeks appear full due to the fillings that have been inserted. The right cheek is missing a part, the left cheek is slightly cracked where the incision for the filling was made. The mouth is open and the teeth are visible. The x-ray shows that they are only slightly abraded (Strouhal, 1980, 74). Considering the features of the skull, the fact that some connective tissue joints are still open and the state of the teeth, the anthropologists concluded that the head belonged to a woman who died between 30 and 50 years old. Inv. No. 15/10 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dating to the 18th-20th dynasties. The head and part of the neck are mostly covered with linen bandages, which are missing mainly in the area of the nose, mouth and chin. The exposed parts show skeleton rather than soft tissue. X-rays showed that the eye sockets were empty and that no artificial eyes had been inserted. Examination revealed normal bone structure and highly abraded and defective teeth. According to the anthropologists, the head belonged to a man who died in his 50s. The teeth were misaligned. Inv. No. 15/11 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dating from the 18th-20th dynasties. Height: 26 cm The head and part of the neck are wrapped in woven linen. The bandages are missing from the right side of the face. The exposed bone and eye socket show no soft tissue or artificial eye. The neck area bears remnants of black resin. The examination revealed a normal structure of the bone tissue and the teeth were found to be defective and severely abraded. The arched forehead, broad, protruding chin and robust bones were considered by the anthropologists to belong to a man who died between 30 and 50 years old. They found that one of the vertebrae had a smooth outgrowth of immature bone (Strouhal, 1980, 58), which often occurs as a result of degenerative disease. This individual had suffered from a musculoskeletal disorder throughout his life. The skin of the face was painted during mummification with a reddish-brown resinous varnish mixed with salt (Matiegková, 1929, 253). The eyebrows were painted black. Both eyes have bundles of linen inserted into the sockets between the eyelids. The linen is painted white on the surface with black dots for the irises. There are several cracks in the surface of the skin. They were caused by the incisions made to insert the fillings behind the lips and cheeks (Strouhal, 1980, 74). The fillings are a mixture of resin, salt, sawdust, etc. (Matiegková,1929,253). The mouth is closed. During the examination a short beard and a moustache were found on the chin and the upper lip. The x-ray revealed shadows in the lower part of the face (fillings) and in the cranial cavity. The shadow in the cavity did not appear to be very dense and it was concluded that earth and sand rather than resin had been used as fillers (Strouhal, 1980, 75). The radiographs showed that the bone tissue had a normal structure. The teeth were not visible on the radiographs because of the fillings, so their condition could not be determined. Degenerative changes on the spine were observed in the form of an osteophyte. Osteophytes form naturally at the back of the spine as a person ages. They do not usually cause back pain, but are often a symptom of a deeper problem. However, they can pinch nerves that leave the spine for other parts of the body. This can cause pain in both upper and lower limbs and numbness or tingling in the hands and feet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteophyte ). The anthropologists suggested an age of death between 30 and 40 years. The head belonged to a male. Inv. No. 15/12 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height: 23 cm The head and neck are preserved in an exceptionally lifelike state. The linen bandages are wrapped around the head and neck, although not in their original position. During examination in the early 1970s, the bandages were lifted to reveal remnants of short hair and both ears, then reapplied in a slightly different position, as compared to the photograph taken at the time of the article in 1929, when the head was examined by Ludmila Matiegková. The face is unbandaged. The soft tissues are very well preserved, except for the nose, which is completely missing. The damage to the nose must have occurred after the two examinations, because in both the Matiegková and Strouhal reports, the nose is clearly visible in the photographs of the head and in the reports. Inv. No. 15/13 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height: 23 cm The head, neck and upper part of the chest are very well preserved, with no traces of the original wrapping. Both ears and nose are preserved. The skin of the face has a dark tone, almost greyish/black, due to colouring during the mummification process. Traces of gilding are visible. The mouth is closed, as are both eyes. The radiograph shows that there are cavities behind the eyelids - originally the artificial eyes must have been in place (Strouhal, 1980, 75). Thick curly hair is preserved on the head. No fillings are visible in the cranial cavity. The structure of the bone tissue is normal. Although the connective tissue on the skull was found to be open, it was diagnosed as a persistent frontal suture. The age was estimated by the anthropologists at 15-17 years. The head probably belonged to a male. Inv. No. 15/14 A mummified head from Deir el-Medina dated to the 21st dynasty Height of the head: 16 cm Height of the head together with the shoulder: 21 cm The head, neck, vertebrae, thorax, rib and a right shoulder have survived together with a few wrappings on the top of the head. The soft tissues and the right ear are well preserved. The facial features are recognisable. Both eyes are closed, the mouth is slightly open and a few teeth are visible. The skin appears to be black due to varnish with resin applied during the mummification process (Matiegková, 1929, 252). The radiographs show shadows in the lower half of the face, while there are no shadows in the cranial cavity, which means that the cheeks are filled and the cavity is empty. Although the eye sockets are empty, the arching of the upper lids suggests that they were filled during the mummification process (Strouhal, 1980, 72). Based on the development of the teeth and the appearance of the connective tissue joint on the skull, anthropologists suggested that the infant was between 2 and 3 years old. Infant deaths Life in ancient Egypt was fraught with dangers for babies and young children, from disease and infection to insect and snake bites. Infant mortality was high, as it still is today in countries with inadequate medical care. Numerous burials of children have been discovered either within ancient Egyptian cemeteries or in the floors of living quarters. In the area of the eastern cemetery of Deir el-Medina, more than 100 burials of infants were excavated. Their remains were laid out in domestic pottery, baskets, chests, boxes and some in wooden coffins (Janssen,2007,19). We have looked at the past and assessed the present state of the remains of the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina housed in the Anthropological Museum in Hrdlička. What does the future hold? For the past two decades, radiologists have been using computed tomography (CT) scans to learn more about ancient bodies. This modern medical technology uses sectional imaging, in which hundreds of images of the body are taken and stitched together using computers to create 3-D views. This high-tech tool can distinguish between different types of bone and soft tissue and produces clearer images than the conventional X-rays used to examine the remains in the 1970s. used to examine the remains in the 1970s. If, in the future, each of the complete mummies were to undergo a CT scan, not only could this non-invasive examination provide further clues about the mummies themselves, but the reconstructed 3D images could also be used to reconstruct the faces, allowing us to truly see a face emerging from behind the curtain of the past. Sources: 1. Strouhal, E., Vyhnálek, L.: Egyptian mummies in Czechoslovak collections Národní Museum v Praze, 1980. 2. Matiegková, L.: Vyšetřování egyptských mumií IN : Anthropologie čís. 1-2, p. 237-253. Rozhledy-Review-Revue Praha : Anthropologicky Ustav UK, 19--. 3. Matiegková, L., Matiegka, J.: Hrob Sen Nefera a tělesné znaky staroegyptského lidu za doby XVIII dynastie (Le tombe de Sen Nefer et les caractères physiques des anciens Egyptiens au temps de la XVIIIe dynastie Offprint : Anthropologie IX, cis. 1. pp. 320-335. Praha : Grafické závody V. & A. Janata v Novém Bydžově, 1931. 4. Skvařilová, B.: Hrdličkovo muzeum človeka Univerzity Karlovy Praha : Hrdličkovo muzeum, 2010. 5. Deir el-Medina in the third millenniuim AD : a tribute to Jac. J. Janssen / edited by R. J. Demarée and A. Egberts Leiden : Nederlands Instituut voor Het Nabije Oosten, 2000. 6. Janssen, Rosalind and Janssen, Jac. J.: Growing up and getting old in ancient Egypt London : Golden House Publications, 2007. 7. Taylor, John H.: Death and afterlife in ancient Egypt London : British Museum Press, 2001. 8. Strouhal, Evzen: Life of the ancient Egyptians Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 1997. 9. Nunn, John F.: Ancient Egyptian medicine London : British Museum Press, 1996. 10. Deir el-Medina in the third millenniuim AD : a tribute to Jac. J. Janssen / edited by R. J. Demarée and A. Egberts Leiden : Nederlands Instituut voor Het Nabije Oosten, 2000. 11. Tomsová, Julie: Dvojí život Sennefera z Dér el-Medíny : Bachelor degree thesis Praha : Univerzita Karlova v Praze , Filozofická fakulta, Český egyptologický ústav, 2014. 12. Tomsová, Julie, Schierová, Zuzana: Skeletal material from Deir el-Medina in the Hrdlička Museum of Man in Prague IN : Annals of the Náprstek Musem 37/1, 2016, pp. 41-69 http://www.natur.cuni.cz/biology/hrdlickovo-muzeum/aboutus_listing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteophyte http://muzeumcloveka.cz/en/permanent-exhibition/ Further bibliography Back to top

The main cemetery of the royal workmen at Deir el-Medina is situated to the west of the village, on the slope of the Theban hills. Most of the tombs were built during the 19th dynasty. Some of them are impressive in their decoration and size. The tombs of Deir el-Medina The ancient Egyptians saw human life as cyclical, an experience that could be expected to repeat itself throughout eternity, like the endless reappearance of the sun at dawn. Death was not seen as an end, but as a further change leading to another form of existence. They recognised that death was inevitable, but believed that the afterlife could be reached by passing through it (Taylor, 2001, 12). This idea was the product of many centuries of thought. Eternal life could be secured by various means: devotion to the gods, preservation of the body through mummification, and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. The body and the various funerary objects were usually placed in a tomb. The tombs were almost always underground and usually consisted of a simple pit, a room cut into the rock, or a chamber made of mud brick or stone. The main cemetery of the royal workmen at Deir el-Medina is situated to the west of the village, on the slope of the Theban hills. Most of the tombs were built during the 19th dynasty. Some are impressive in their decoration and size. By the time of the 20th dynasty, the tombs had become family tombs where the descendants of the original owners were buried. Apart from the addition of another underground chamber, there were few alterations. The lower levels of the eastern hill of Qurnet Mura'i were the site of infant and child burials. More than a hundred children were buried there in ordinary domestic pottery jars or amphorae, in baskets, even fish baskets, in chests, boxes or in proper coffins. The poorest burials were those of stillborn babies. They contained no jewellery or amulets, only small vessels filled with food for the afterlife. The graves of adults were higher up. Many of these tombs date from the 18th dynasty. View of the cemetery on the north side of the of the settlement, looking west The tombs of the settlement had a basic layout: at ground level, a small open courtyard, a vaulted chapel of one or more rooms, surmounted by a brick pyramid topped by a stone pyramidion. A shaft in the courtyard led to an underground passage and a decorated burial chamber or chambers, depending on the means and status of the individual. The main underground chamber usually had a vaulted roof and was very richly decorated. Stelae were set into the mud-brick walls and a large stela, commemorating the deceased and depicting his funeral, was placed in the courtyard. A tomb located in the southern part of the settlement Some of the tombs are in excellent condition. They are decorated with vivid colours against a rich yellow background, possibly the colour of papyrus. The themes of the decorated walls are not scenes of daily life or funerary ceremonies, but are almost exclusively devoted to texts and scenes from the Book of the Dead, borrowing from the same repertoire of religious scenes that appear on the walls of royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. As the Harpist's Song in the tomb of King Intef puts it: "Increase your happiness! Be not weary-hearted! Follow your heart and happiness! Make your things on earth! Do not destroy your heart, until that day of lamentation comes for you! The Weary-hearted does not hear their lamentation; mourning cannot save a man from the tomb-pit. Make holiday! Do not weary of it! Look, no one can take his things with him. Look, no one who has gone there returns again." (translation from Parkinson,1991,146) Inside the vaulted chapel The surviving niche of Ramose's chapel complex of his tomb no. 212. Chapel north of the tomb 356 List of Deir el-Medina tombs 1 - Sennedjem , Servant in the Place of Truth under Seti I and Ramesses II (also link to osirisnet.net ) 2 - Khabekhnet , Servant in the Place of Truth 3 - Pashedu , Servant in the Place of Truth on the west of Thebes (Also owner of tomb 326) 4 - Qen (link to the Griffith Institute Archive ), Chiseller of Amūn in the Place of Truth. (Perhaps also owner of tomb 337.) Rameses II 5 - Neferabu , Servant in the Place of Truth on the west of Thebes. Ramesside 6 - Neferhotep and son Nebnefer (link to osirisnet.net ) 7 - Ramose (link to osirisnet.net ) (also tombs 212 and 250) 8 - Kha, architect of Amenhotep II 9 - Amenmose 10 - Kasa and Penbuy (link to the Griffith Institute Archive ) 206 - Inpumheb, scribe of the Place of Truth 210 - Raweben 211 - Paneb 212 - Ramose , scribe of the Place of Truth (also tombs 7 and 250) (also link to osirisnet.net ) 213 - Penamun 214 - Khawi, guard in the Place of Truth 215 - Amenemopet, scribe of the king in the Place of Truth (link to the Griffith Institute Archive ) (also tomb 265) 216 - Neferhotep, the foreman (link to osirisnet.net ) 217 - Ipuy, sculptor under Ramesses II (link to the Griffith Institute Archive ) 218 - Amenakhte and Iymway . Excavated by Bruyère in 1928 219 - Nebenmaat . Excavated by Bruyère in 1928 220 - Khaemteri . Excavated by Bruyère in 1928 250 - Ramose, scribe of the Place of Truth (link to osirisnet.net ) (also tombs 7 and 212) 265 - Amenemopet, scribe of the king in the Place of Truth (also tomb 215) 266 - Amennakht, chief craftsman of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Place of Truth 267 - Hay, officer of workmen in the Place of Truth 268 - Nebnakhte (family tomb) 290 - Irynefer 291 - Nakhtmin or Nu 292 - Pashedu 298 - Baki or Wennefer 299 - Inherkau (also tomb 359) 321 - Khaemopet 322 - Penshenabu 323 - Pashedu, draughtsman in the Place of Truth 325 - Simen 326 - Pashedu, foreman (also tomb 3) 327 - Turobay 328 - Hay 329 - Mose and Ipy 330 - Karo 335 - Nakhtamun (link to osirisnet.net ) 336 - Neferrenpet 337 - Eskhons and Qen, chiseller in the Place of Truth 338 - May 339 - Huy or Pashedu (Ramesside Period) 340 - Amenemhat (link to osirisnet.net ) (also tomb 354) 354 - Amenemhat (also tomb 340) 355 - Amenpahapy 356 - Amonemuia. Excavated by Bruyère in 1928 357 - Tutihermaktuf. Excavated by Bruyère in 1929 359 - Inherkau, foreman in the Place of Truth under Ramesses III and IV (also tomb 299)(link to osirisnet.net ) 360 - Qeh, foreman in the Place of Truth 361 - Huy, main carpenter in the Place of Truth Tombs and pits excavated by Bruyère in 1928 1102 - 19th dynasty 1119 - Ramesside tomb - 1129 - 18th dynasty 1130 - situated 9 m north of the court of TT337 1131 - situated 4 m at 6 degrees north of TT337. 18th dynasty objects found 1132 - situated 10 m north of No 1130 1133 - situated 9 m from TT3. 5 steps staircase, simple chamber, amphorae fragments found 1134 - situated east of TT1133 1135 - situated 10 m east of TT325 chapel 1136 - situated 8.20 m south-west of TT325 chapel 1137 - situated 5.35 m north-east of TT337 court. 18th dynasty brick and 18th dynasty hieratic inscription found found 1138 - Nakhy and Amenwahsu. Situated south of TT325 chapel. 18th dynasty. 64 funerary cones found 1139 - situated 14 m north of TT337 1140 - 18th dynasty 1141 - situated 8 m east of 1139 1142 - situated 5 m east of TT337 1143 - situated 8.7 m east of 1140. Pit 2.9 m deep. Pottery fragments found 1144 - situated 5 m nort-east of 1139. Pit 3.45 m deep. 18th dynasty. Pottery fragments found 1145 - situated 13 m east of TT 340. Pit 3.65 m deep. 18th dynasty. Pottery 1146 - rectangular, 3.2 m long 1147 - 1148 - style of the 18th dynasty 1149 - situated 8.7 m north of TT329 court and 8.2 m west of TT250 chapel 1150 - north of TT250. Brick with cartouche of Tuthmosis IV (1419-1386 BC) found. 18th dynasty 1151 - fragments of pottery found 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 - pit 1. Hermes, pit 2. Sennefer 1160 - situated south of TT250. 18th dynasty 1162 - 18th dynasty 1163 - 18th and 19th dynasty. Brick with cartouche of Tuthmosis I (1524-1518 BC) 1161 - 18th dynasty, pit 3.90 m, 1 vertical chamber 1164 - 18th, 19th dynasty. Pottery found. The owner identified as Aamek 1165 - 18th dynasty 1166 - name of the owner lost, 18th dynasty 1168 - 18th dynasty 1169 - 18th dynasty 1170 - 18th dynasty. 1171 1172 1173 1174 1176 - 18th dynasty 1180 - 18th dynasty 1181 - 18th dynasty 1182 - 18th dynasty 1183 1184 1206 - anonymous The text on this page was written by Lenka Peacock using the sources below. Photography © Lenka and Andy Peacock Sources: 1. Benderitter, Thierry: https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/artisans/e_artisans.htm 2. Bruyère, Bernard : Tombes Thebaines. La Necropole de Deir el-Medineh. Tom 1. Cairo : 1926. 3. Bruyère, Bernard: Rapport sur les Fouilles de Deir el Medineh (1928) Le Caire : Imprimerie de l'Institut Francais d'Archeologie Orientale, 1929. 4. David, A. Rosalie: The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt : a modern investigation of Pharaoh's workforce. London : Routledge, 1986. 5. Deir el-Medina in the third millenniuim AD : a tribute to Jac. J. Janssen / edited by R. J. Demarée and A. Egberts Leiden : Nederlands Instituut voor Het Nabije Oosten, 2000. 6. Janssen, Rosalind and Janssen, Jac. J.: Growing up and getting old in ancient Egypt London : Golden House Publications, 2007. 7. Parkinson, Richard: Voices from Ancient Egypt London : British Museum Press, 1991. 8. Shaw, Ian: British Museum dictionary of ancient Egypt. London : British Museum Press, 1995. 9. Taylor, John H.: Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt London : British Museum Press, 2001. 10. Waseda University Institute of Egyptology web site at http://www.waseda.jp/prj-egypt/sites/DeM/DeM-E.html 11. Weeks, Kent R.: The treasures of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings Cercelli : White Star Publishers, 2005 Further bibliography Back to top

Another group of cult structures is located to the east of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple. Remains of a Ramesside chapel are to be found here. Chapels east of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple Another group of cult structures is located to the east of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple. On the lower slopes of Qurnet Mura'i lie the remains of two buildings, one of which was classified by Bruyère as a temple, photographs and discussion of which can be found on the "Temples " page. The other remains belong to the small Ramesside chapel situated opposite the south-east corner of the enclosure wall. The chapel was carved into the cliff of Qurnet Mura'i. It consisted of a hall, a pronaos and a sanctuary. The hall was entered by a flight of steps. It contained two benches, one along the southern wall and the other opposite, along the northern wall. Four steps with a balustrade led to the pronaos, which contained two columns. There were benches in each niche of the tripartite sanctuary. On the northern wall of the sanctuary there are traces of wall decorations. The chapel was later converted into a Christian church. Photography © Lenka Peacock 2007 Sources: 1. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites. London : Kegan Paul International, 1991. Further bibliography Back to top

Neferabu was a worker from Deir el-Medina, whose title was "The servant in the Place of Truth". He was active in the necropolis during the first half of the 19th dynasty. His tomb (which is numbered TT5) is an excellent source from which his family tree can be constructed. Neferabu's tomb no. 5 at Deir el-Medina Neferabu was a worker from Deir el-Medina whose title was "The Servant in the Place of Truth". He worked in the necropolis during the first half of the 19th dynasty. Thanks to the surviving textual evidence from the village, the dates can be narrowed down to the years 36 (O.Gardiner 133) and 40 (O.BM 5634) of Ramesses II. (Davis, 1999, 158) The tomb of Neferabu (numbered TT5) is an excellent source from which to construct his family tree. Neferabu was the son of "The Servant in the Place of Truth" Neferrenpet and his wife Mahy. The tomb inscriptions refer to Amenmose as the "father" of Neferabu, but it has been proved that Amenmose was actually the father of Neferabu's wife Ta-Isis (or Isis or Taiset). (Davis,1999,158) The names of his numerous children are recorded on the walls of the tomb. He had sons Nodjemger, Neferronpet, Ramose and Meriunu and daughters Henuttu, Mahi, Tenthaynu, Hotepy, Mutemopet, Istnofret, Henut-iunet and Roruti. The tomb of Neferabu is nestled against the Theban hills in the northern part of the western necropolis of Deir el-Medina. Photography © 2007 Andy Peacock A plan of the tomb of Neferabu, no. 5. Drawn by Lenka Peacock, after a drawing in Vandier, Jacques : Tombes de Deir el- Médineh, 1935. History of the discovery Almost nothing is known about the discovery of the tomb of Neferabu. Most likely, it was discovered more than two centuries ago. Maspero suggested 1818 as the year of discovery on the basis of the stele of Neferabu now in the British Museum (EA 589, more details below). The stele came from a collection of Count Belmore and was said to have been found in a tomb at Thebes in 1818. Although this votive stele may have come from his tomb, it is more likely that it came from one of the shrines at Deir el-Medina, or possibly from the rock shrine between the village and the Valley of the Queens. There is other evidence that dissuades us from accepting Maspero's claims. 1. From a papyrus in the Louvre, we know that the tomb was violated during the Ptolemaic period, when it served as a catacomb: "Appointed Horus leaves to each of his sons a quarter that belongs to him in Neferabu's catacombs, and a quarter of the dead." 2. The tomb was probably inhabited by Copts. In the first hall and the two connecting rooms, there were numerous burn marks on the ceiling and walls. This does not prove with certainty that the tomb was inhabited by Copts (some marks are modern and made by the Arabs), but they can often be taken as a sign of the presence of Copts, and it is very likely that the tomb of Neferabu, after serving as a catacomb, was used as a dwelling by Copts. 3. After visiting Deir el-Medina in the 1880s, Alfred Wiedemann described the tombs of the 19th dynasty, but did not mention the tomb of Neferabu in his article published in 1908. 4. In 1929 Bernard Bruyère discovered another stela in the shaft of pit 1195. This proves once again that the stela from Belmore's collection which was found in a tomb in Thebes did not come from the tomb of Neferabu. However, it is not impossible that the tomb of Neferabu was already known in 1818 and then quickly forgotten. This is not without precedent in Deir el-Medina - wall scenes in Tomb No. 3 were copied by Hay between 1825 and 1838, and then the tomb was rediscovered by Howard Carter in 1910. This hypothesis seems likely. The tomb known in 1818 could have been filled with sand shortly afterwards. There is another example of this happening at Deir el-Medina: the tomb of Inherkau was partly drawn by Lepsius in the mid-19th century, then lost and rediscovered by Bruyère in 1930. 1930. It is not possible to conclude whether the tomb was known in the early 19th century and we cannot answer the question who discovered the tomb of Neferabu and when. (Vandier,1935,1-4) Drawn by Lenka Peacock, after a drawing in Vandier, Jacques : Tombes de Deir el-Médineh, 1935. The architecture The tomb belongs to the category of chapel tombs. It had the following layout: a small open courtyard at ground level, a one-room vaulted chapel surmounted by a brick pyramid topped by a stone pyramidion, and a large funerary stele beyond. The vaulted chapel was very richly decorated. The shaft near the courtyard leads to the underground passage and two burial chambers. This type of tomb was widely used during the 19th and 20th dynasties. The tomb consists of two distinct parts: the underground part for the deceased, and the outer side, which was visited by family and friends and served as a place for worshipping the dead. This part was almost completely destroyed, but the preserved remains and other data gathered from other tombs can help to reconstruct its shape. The courtyard was a square of 6.5 metres on each side, surrounded by walls of stone and adobe. The entrance, which was on the south side, probably consisted of two brick pillars and was accessed by a ramp or stairs. At the end of the courtyard was a pyramidal building. A small chapel , the layout of which, as Bruyère noted, is the same as the hieroglyphic sign for the house, was built of adobe and stone and measured 2 x 3.10 metres. The door, located on the longer side, opened to the south. At the end of the chapel - opposite the front door - there was a niche where the floor was raised to the height of a step. The niche measured 2 metres by 1.5 metres. The funerary stele and an offering table were usually placed here. In his 1926 report (p. 86), Bruyère says of the chapel: "The fact that the slope collapsed has almost completely destroyed the remains. We can only assume that it was a vaulted room, made of brick, with a west-east axis parallel to the front". The walls of the chapel were painted with multicoloured figures on a yellow background. Pyramid . The walls of the chapel were the base on which stood a brick pyramid topped by a pyramidion. The pyramidion was made of painted limestone with inscriptions in honour of the sun. Each of the four sides represented a phase of the sun during the day. On the south side of the pyramid was a niche containing the round stela found by Bruyère in 1929 in a neighbouring pit No. 1195. The inside of the pyramid was hollow so as not to put too much weight on the walls of the chapel. The The outer walls of the pyramids were washed with lime. (Vandier,1935,5-6) Drawn by Lenka Peacock, after a drawing in Vandier, Jacques : Tombes de Deir el-Médineh, 1935. Shaft . In the courtyard, two metres in front of the chapel, there was a burial shaft. It was dug vertically into the ground. It measures 0.75 x 1.40 metres and is 4 metres deep. Its walls were made of mud bricks covered with white paint. There are slits in the walls of the shaft at intervals of about 0.60 metres, so that it is possible to descend. Four steps leading to the first chamber are modern, the 5th is original. The door in the eastern wall opened to the west. The first hall . It is a long hall, oriented from north to south, measuring 2 metres by 5.08 metres. The ceiling is vaulted and made of mud bricks laid in diagonal lines. The walls are completely covered with paint on plaster. A large part of the vault and the north wall are blackened and burnt, making it very difficult to read the text of the inscriptions and to study the murals. Around the centre of the hall, the vaulted ceiling is cracked. Traces of an old brick structure, no doubt the old shaft, can be seen. This suggests that Neferabu reused an earlier tomb as his resting place. It is likely that the earlier tomb dates from the 18th Dynasty. The original shaft is about 2 metres away from the later shaft. The remains of the southern wall of the old shaft can be seen in the courtyard of the chapel. It was also built of mud bricks, as was the later shaft of Neferabu. A small long room leads from the first hall to the west side, and two other small interconnected rooms are on the east side. It is difficult to say whether the small rooms were part of the original tomb or were added by Neferabu. These areas may have been used as storage rooms and were filled with funerary objects. The walls of these rooms are blackened by smoke, either from Ptolemaic or Coptic times. The first room of the eastern group has a cavity in the floor along its eastern wall, representing a kind of oblong tank in which the sarcophagus could have been placed at some point. At the end of the northern side of the first room of the tomb, there is a kind of stage or mastaba, 47 cm high and 2 m wide. The family of the deceased probably placed their offerings on this altar, which takes up the entire back of the hall, during the funeral ceremony. This mastaba is a common feature of tombs in the area, but is usually located at the bottom of the burial chamber. The mastaba in this tomb masks the shaft leading into the burial chamber. The shaft was filled with hard packed earth, which also formed the mastaba itself. The entrance to the second chamber was probably closed by a large vertical stone that slid into two vertical grooves. The grooves are still visible at the entrance to the tomb, although they are covered with white plaster. The entrance to the burial chamber has 4 steps, which are modern. Farina's photographs from the time when the tomb was excavated by Bruyère show us the original state: there was a shaft with three walls whitewashed with lime. The fourth wall was formed by the stopper. At the bottom of the southern wall, the last three layers of mud bricks were not plastered. Either there was a step or, more likely, it is simply a sign of damage. Burial chamber . The second room, the burial chamber, is larger than the first. It measures 6.25 by 3 metres. Its height reaches 2.6 metres, but is also reduced by the vaulted ceiling. Its floor is about 1.5 metres below the level of the first hall. A rather large crack in the ceiling, which has damaged the scenes on the front wall and areas in the south-east and south-west corners, allows a glimpse of the remains of the original masonry, as in the first hall. The east wall is damaged by a large crack, about a metre wide, probably caused by probing at the time of the discovery. It leads to a small lower cavity measuring 2.0 by 1.4 metres. The texts and scenes on the walls are intact. The niches were drawn by Lenka Peacock, after a drawing in Vandier, Jacques : Tombes de Deir el-Médineh, 1935. At the end of the burial chamber there is a peculiar and interesting detail: there are small oblong vertical niches on the east and west walls, about half a metre from the northern corner. Bruyère thought that they were intended to hold a wooden beam to support the weight of the sarcophagus as it was lowered into a room below. In 1929 he made a probe into the floor at the foot of the north wall, but found nothing except a small empty cavity at a depth of 1.5 metres. metres deep. The purpose of these niches remains a mystery. When the tomb was decorated, the niches were bricked up and lime-washed, but the artist left them empty and unadorned. It is difficult to explain these elements as nothing similar has been found in other tombs. (Vandier,1935,6-9) Objects connected to Neferabu housed in the British Museum Fragment of a stela of Neferabu 19th dynasty Limestone From Deir el-Medina British Museum EA 1754 Location: Gallery 63/11 Height: 17.5 centimetres Length: 52 centimetres Acquired in Luxor The stela above may have come from his tomb TT5 or perhaps from one of the shrines at Deir el-Medina. The relief shows the deceased's sons and relatives together with the draughtsman Pabaki, the draughtsman Pashedu and the scribe Ipu(y) carrying various funerary objects to be placed in his tomb. These include various boxes and stools. Merysekhmet is described on the stela as a sn (brother) of Neferabu, but Jac Janssen identifies Merysekhmet as Neferabu's nephew. He argues that Merysekhmet is not his real brother but a member of the same generation to which Janssen refers by sn. (Gleanings,1982,128). This argument is supported by the identification of at least 11 so-called brothers (sn) from several monuments attributed to Neferabu. The filiations recorded on Egyptian funerary reliefs do not always reliably reflect a particular blood relationship and closer examination in certain cases allows Egyptologists to determine the true relationship to the individuals involved (Davies,1999,158). It is in good but incomplete condition. In the literature it is always quoted together with stela 150 (as BM 150+1754). It was published by Kitchen in his Rammesside Inscriptions, Vol. 3, p. 774, part of 154. It has also been published in The British Museum hieroglyphic texts from Egyptian stelae etc, edited by T. G. H. James, Part 9: Plate XXX Registration number: 1931,0613.11 Ostrakon bearing an attendance record of workmen EA 5634 Neferabu's name appears on line 3 of the ostrakon: Neferabu: month 4 of Spring, day 15 (his daugher was bleeding), day 17 (burying the god), month 2 of Summer, day 7 (embalming his brother), day 8 (libating for him), month 4 of Summer, day 26 (his wife was bleeding). To view and browse the digitised version of The Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings, (also known as Porter & Moss or TopBib) for this tomb, go to http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/topbib/pdf/pm1-1.pdf#page=3 0 Material for the Bibliography is gathered from an ever-expanding range of multi-lingual sources, encompassing both specialist and semi-popular Egyptological and Near Eastern publications, periodicals, museum guides, exhibition and auction catalogues, together with the growing wealth of web resources. The Bibliography also analyses a range of unpublished manuscripts, including those housed in the Griffith Institute Archive. Published in May 2014 by the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, the volumes are constantly revised and augmented. Text on this page written by Lenka & Andy Peacock Photographs © Lenka Peacock, The Trustees of the British Museum With many thanks and gratitude to Ing. Jaroslav Bican, my brother, for the translation of the French text into Czech. Sources: 1. Vandier, Jacques : Tombes de Deir el-Médineh : la tombe de Nefer-Abou Le Caire : Impr. de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1935. 2. Davies, Benedict G.: Who's who at Deir el-Medina : a prosopographic study of the royal workmen's community Leiden : Nederlands Instituut voor Her Nabije Oosten, 1999 3. Davis, Benedict G.: Genealogies and personality characteristics of the workmen in the Deir el-Medina community during the Ramesside period. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Liverpool : University of Liverpool, February 1996. 4. Gleanings from Deir el-Medina / editors, R. J. Demarée and Jac. J. Janssen. Leiden : Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden, 1982. 5. Journey through the Afterlife : Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead / edited by John H. Taylor London : The British Museum Press, 2010. 320 p. 6. The British Museum web site www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Further bibliography Back to top

The village was inhabited by the community of workmen involved in the construction and decoration of the royal tombs in both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Together with their wives and families the workmen occupied the houses of mud brick and stone for some 450 years. The village of Deir el-Medina Deir el-Medina is one of the best preserved ancient settlements in Egypt. It lies in a small secluded valley in the shadow of the Theban hills, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite modern-day Luxor in Upper Egypt. The village was inhabited by the community of workmen involved in the construction and decoration of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Together with their wives and families, the craftsmen occupied the neatly built mud-brick and stone houses for some 450 years during the New Kingdom period. The settlement was founded sometime early in the 18th dynasty, although it is uncertain under which king. Many bricks in the enclosure wall of the settlement were stamped with the name of Thutmosis I (c. 1524-1518 BC), who was the first pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings. However, the reverence paid to the previous king, Amenhotep I (1551-1524 BC) and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari, suggests that they may have been instrumental in establishing the royal workforce at Deir el-Medina. We have little information about the earliest years of the community. Most of our knowledge of the settlement comes from the extensive evidence from the 19th and 20th dynasties, when the village almost doubled in size. The initial workforce was probably drawn from a number of places, possibly from other crews in the Theban area employed on temple building projects. The original town was surrounded by a thick mud-brick wall. Since the first phase of the settlement, dating from the beginning of the 18th dynasty, was destroyed by fire, little is known about its layout. After the Amarna period, under the restoration of King Horemheb (c. 1321-1293 B.C.), the village expanded. The damaged houses were restored and new ones built. During the 19th dynasty, Deir el-Medina covered an area of about 132 metres long and 50 metres wide. The houses within the enclosure wall were all built in blocks - there was no space between them and two adjacent houses shared a wall. Although the village was occupied for over four centuries, the evidence from the excavations shows that the general layout of the individual houses largely follows the pattern established in the first phase of the settlement's construction during the 18th dynasty. The ground level also remained unchanged, unlike other settlements where successive generations built on the remains of previous occupations. The village itself consisted of about 70 houses. They were divided by a main road. It ran from north to south with narrow houses on either side. Archaeological excavations suggest that this street was covered, making the village a solidly roofed community. Both the floors of the houses and the central street were found to be covered with layers of accumulated and well-trodden animal dung from goats, sheep and pigs. (Hobson, 1997, p. 117). In the workmen's village, property ownership was more tightly controlled - property tended to be passed from father to son, along with trades and professions. Restricted by the village boundary, the inhabitants were not able to expand their dwellings, as was often the case elsewhere. Some forty to fifty houses were later built outside the enclosure wall to the north, between or over earlier burials. The community reached its greatest numbers and prosperity towards the end of the reign of Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC). From the end of the reign of Ramesses XI (1098-1070 BC), the Theban area was in turmoil and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings began to be plundered. Both the archaeological and textual evidence suggest that not later than by the early 21st dynasty, around the years 17-18 of Ramesses XI, the community of workmen had left Deir el-Medina and moved within the walls of the nearby temple at Medinet Habu. Dhutmose, the scribe of the tomb, wrote to Hor, the deputy of the estate of Amun-Ra, on his visit to Thebes: "We heard that you have arrived and reached the town of Ne; may Amun give you a good welcome, may he do all good things for you. We dwell here in the Mansion and you know well our way of dwelling. But the boys of the tomb have gone. They dwell in Ne, while I dwell here alone with the scribe of the army, Penthonakhte". The Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III (1182-1151 BC) at Medinet Habu as seen from the western slopes of the Theban Hills above Deir el-Medina Although the former inhabitants no longer lived in the village, they returned to visit the family tombs and to worship at their temple of Amenhotep I. The abandoned houses were used for storage until they decayed beyond their usefulness. It is not clear what happened to the villagers after this period, but the site of Deir el-Medina continued to be used extensively for both religious and funerary purposes until as late as the 8th century AD. In the 3rd century BC, Ptolemy IV Philopater built a temple dedicated to Hathor and Maat on the northern side of the former village, on the site of the earlier chapels and shrines and opposite the small temple of Amun . In the Christian era the temple was converted into a Coptic church. A monastery, or deir, was established there. Deir el-Medina thus survived its change in function from a primarily residential to a to a sacred and burial site. The ancient name of the settlement, "St-maat-Hr-imnty-Wast" , means "The Place of Truth, to the West of Thebes". The ancient villagers referred to their settlement as "pa-demi" , "the town". The modern Arabic name Deir el-Medina, meaning "The Convent of the Town", reflects the fact that, during the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the village's Ptolemaic temple was converted into a Christian church. "Wast" inscription from the walls of the Ptolemaic temple at Deir el-Medina The term "st-maat" , usually translated as "the Place of Truth", appears repeatedly in tomb inscriptions and on funerary objects such as stelae, coffins, shabtis, statues, pyramidions, door lintels and door jambs, as well as on a wide variety of small objects from the Theban necropolis, particularly from the region of Deir el-Medina. A smaller number of objects come from other Theban sites, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, Qurna and Dra abu al-Naga. A large group of titles, demoting employees "in the Place of Truth", has been identified in documents from the 19th and 20th dynasties. "st-maat" from an inscription on Bankes stela no. 11 Kingston Lacy The earliest example of the expression "st-maat" is in chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, which dates from the dynasties 13-17 (2nd Intermediate Period, ca. 1782-1633 B.C.). It reads "I have not committed any sins in the Place of Truth". The term can generally be applied to any place or locality that is sacred or holy. It was not only used within the city of Thebes. There are examples of the term being used in Memphis, Amarna or Abydos. The term cannot be translated with a single phrase because it does not have a single meaning. Depending on the context, "st-maat" can mean the afterlife, the cemetery, a tomb, the king's tomb, or even a workshop (in western Thebes). In Theban documents, "st-maat" was used with the addition "hr-imnty-Wast" , meaning "west of Weset" (Weset being the ancient Egyptian name for Thebes, now Luxor). Inscriptions are found in both hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts. Excavations at Deir el-Medina Throughout the 19th century, objects were looted from the Deir el-Medina area to supply the new antiquities market created by foreign travellers visiting the ancient sites. The first antiquities collected by the locals around the site of Deir el-Medina were sold to passing tourists in 1815. Among them was Sir William Bankes. The collection of pieces he bought at this early stage can be seen at his family home in Dorset, Kingston Lacy . Giovanni Belzoni collected antiquities for the British Consul General Henry Salt at the same time as his rival, the French Consul General Bernardino Drovetti, was bidding against him. Their collections were later divided mainly between the British Museum in London and the Museo Egizio in Turin. John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875), an English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist, was the first to excavate the area. He opened several tombs in order to record the remarkable information they contained. Karl Richard Lepsius (1810-1884), a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist, also copied tomb scenes at Deir el-Medina. This inevitably drew attention to the potential riches, and illegal excavations followed (Hobson, 1991, pp. 116-118). In the 1850s an archive of papyri was excavated from the family tomb of Butehamun. It included letters from his father, the scribe Djutmose, to Butehamun and the correspondence of Piankh (c. 1074-1070 BC) sent from Nubia where he was with the army. Several other papyri, probably from the same source, came onto the market at the same time and were bought by European travellers. Eventually, the papyri and many other objects found their way into the storerooms of numerous museums to await future scholars. Most of these discoveries were made by local people. Huge amounts of information were lost as a result of their haphazard digging. In January 1886, a local resident of Qurna, Salam Abu Duji, and his 3 associates were given permission to excavate at Deir el-Medina. They focused their attention not on the settlement area, but on the adjacent terraced hill to the west - the site of the tombs. After the first week of excavation they found an undisturbed tomb - the tomb of Sennedjem (Burzacott,2017,17-18). The northern part of the valley was excavated down to the virgin soil. One of the most important finds was the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty foreman Kha and his wife Meryt. Between 1909 and 1912, Émile Baraize was employed by the Egyptian Antiquities Service to carry out work on the Ptolemaic temple. In 1912 he excavated a small chapel located in the north-western part of the enclosure wall of the main Ptolemaic temple (Bomann, 1991, 39). From 1905 to 1909, the first scientific excavation of the site was carried out by the Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli. In 1906 he excavated the chapel of Seti I (Bomann, 1991, 39). Many objects, including papyri and ostraca, greatly enriched the collections of the Museo Egizio in Turin and the Museo Archeologico in Florence. Turin had already acquired a large number of objects through the collector and dealer Bernardino Drovetti in the early 19th century. In 1913, Georg Möller, a German palaeographer, led an excavation at four sites within the settlement as part of the Berlin Museum's season at Deir el-Medina. as part of a large concession in western Thebes. Among his finds were 11 houses with their contents, 160 hieratic and 70 figurative ostraca, 10-13 tombs in the western cemetery and 4 infant graves in the eastern cemetery (McDowell, 1999, 25). The German concession at Deir el-Medina was transferred to the French after World War I. The French began work at Deir el-Medina in 1917. In 1922, the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, under the direction of Bernard Bruyère, began a project of systematic excavation of the entire site - village, cemetery and pit. The Great Pit , used in ancient times as a garbage dump, was Bruyère's most rewarding discovery. It contained thousands of literary and non-literary ostraca. Bruyère also discovered thirty-two religious structures (Bomann, 1991, 39). In 1925, Bruyère was looking for an epigrapher for his excavations. Jaroslav Černý, a Czech Egyptologist, became a member of the team. He was the world's leading authority on several aspects of the Ramesside period, particularly the hieratic script, a cursive writing system used on papyri and ostraka. Excavation Diaries of Bernard Bruyère from Deir el-Medina, 1922-1955, are now available on-line at http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives /bruyere/about In 1967, the IFAO gave Georges Castel permission to continue the excavations at Deir el-Medina. Although he continued the work of Baraize, Schiaparelli and Bruyère, he concentrated mainly on the excavations of Gurnet Mura'i to the north and south. Excavations by the French mission continue to this day (Brooker, 2009, 8). Domonique Valbelle and Charles Bonnet have reexamined the site to better understand the phases of construction. A worldwide group of scholars continues to study a wide range of topics relating to all aspects of Deir el-Medina. The research group, entitled "Workers' Huts in the Theban Mountains" , began work at the site of the workers' huts in 2008. They will work for four field seasons of three months each. The IFAO Excavations at Deir el-Medina, Cédric Gobeil's thorough examination of the archives of the Institut français d'archéologie orientale (IFAO), published on Oxford Handbooks online, details the history of the archaeological excavations and other field activities conducted by the Institute at the site of Deir el-Medina since the early 20th century. A free PDF version is available at http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb- 9780199935413-e-32?rskey=vK0AHG&result=1 All the photos accompanying the "History of excavation" come from the area in the southeast corner of the main Ptolemaic temple enclosure. The text on this page was written by Lenka Peacock Photography © Lenka and Andy Peacock Aerial view of Deir el-Medina This wonderful photo of Deir el-Medina was taken by Warwick Barnard of Sydney, Australia, during his balloon flight over the Theban West Bank in the early hours of 17 January 2007. Little has changed since then. The aerial view is an ideal tool for understanding the layout of the site from east to west, where the sacred mountain of al-Qurn rises. Please use the legend below as a guide and the links for more detailed information and closer views of individual parts of the settlement. Photography © Warwick Barnard 2007 A - The settlement B - The Ptolemaic temple of Hathor and Ma'at C - The Western necropolis D - The Eastern necropolis E - The great pit F - The chapel of Hathor of Seti I G - The temple of Amenhotep I H - The temple of Amun of Ramesses II I - The French dig house J - Towards the rock shrine of Ptah and Meretseger K - Sennedjem's house L - The ancient path to the Valley of the Kings and to the stone huts at the top of the cliffs M - Modern car park N - The tourist rest house & bookstall Western necropolis tombs: TT1 - Sennedjem's tomb TT2 - Khabekhenet's tomb TT3 - Pashedu's tomb TT5 - Neferabu's tomb TT8 - Kha's tomb TT212 - Ramose TT218-220 TT290 - Irynefer TT291 - Nakhtmin and Nu's tomb TT338 - May TT1159 - Sennefer's tomb Sources: 1.Reeves, Nicholas: The complete Valley of the Kings : tombs and treasure of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. London : Thames and Hudson, 1996. 2.David, A. Rosalie: The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt : a modern investigation of Pharaoh's workforce. London : Routledge, 1986. 3. Černý, Jaroslav: Egypt from the death of Ramesses III to the end of the 21st dynasty. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1965. 4. Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el-Medina / edited by Leonard H. Lesko Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1994. 5. Clayton, Peter A.: Chronicles of the Pharaohs : the reign-by-reign record of the rulers and dynasties of ancient Egypt London : Thames & Hudson, 1994. 6. James, T.G.H.: Pharaoh's people : scenes from life in Imperial Egypt New York : Tauris Parke, 2003. 7. Strudwick, Nigel and Helen: Thebes in Egypt : a guide to the tombs and temples of ancient Luxor London : British Museum Press, 1999. 8. Montserrat, Dominic and Meskell, Lynn: Mortuary archaeology and religious landscape at Graeco- Roman Deir el-Medina. IN: JEA 83, p. 179-197. 9. Romer, John: Ancient lives : the story of the Pharaoh's tombmakers London : Phoenix, 1984. 10. McDowell, A.G.: Village life in ancient Egypt : laundry lists and love songs Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999. 11. Černý, Jaroslav: A community of workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside period Cairo : Institut Francais d'archeologie Orientale du Caire, 1973. 12. Ventura, Raphael: Living in a city of the dead : a selection of topographical and administrative terms in the documents of the Theban necropolis Freiburg (Schweiz) : Universitatsverlag, 1986. 13. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites. London : Kegan Paul International, 1991. 14. Théby : město bohů a faraónů = Thebes : city of gods and pharaohs / Jana Mynářová & Pavel Onderka (eds.) Praha : Národní Museum, 2007. 15. Brooker, M. L.: A new approach of identifying the function of the elevated beds at Deir el- Medina. A thesis: The University of Birmingham, Master of Philosophy. Birmingham : University of Birmingham, June 2009. 196 p. 16. Hobson, Christine: Exploring the world of the pharaohs London : Thames and Hudson, 1990. 17. Burzacott, Jeff: The Tomb of Sennedjem discovered IN : Nile Magazine, no. 11, December 2017 - January 2018, pp. 17-21. 18. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb- 9780199935413-e-32?rskey=vK0AHG&result=1 Further bibliography Back to top

On May 5th 2015 an ancient Egyptian painted funerary linen was displayed in Paris. The rare textile has been presented by the auction house PIASA (www.piasa.fr) and will be auctioned on Thursday, June 18th, 2015 at 3pm as part of a sale of Old Master Paintings, furniture & artifacts. Ta-Nedjem's funerary linen auctioned in Paris On 5 May 2015 an ancient Egyptian painted funerary linen was exhibited in Paris. The rare textile was presented by the auction house PIASA (www.piasa.fr ) and was auctioned on Thursday, 18 June, 2015 at 3pm as part of a sale of Old Master Paintings, Furniture & Artefacts. The canvas was on display at PIASA, 118 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris on Monday 15 June from 10 am to 7 pm, Tuesday 16 June from 10 am to 7 pm, Wednesday 17 June from 10 am to 7 pm and Thursday 18 June from 10 am to 12 noon. Funerary canvas of Ta-Nedjem Most likely from Deir el-Medina New Kingdom, end of the 18th dynasty Painted linen Height: 29 cm Length: 21 cm © PIASA Dating from the New Kingdom and more specifically from the end of the 18th dynasty (c. 1,400-1,300 BC), the funerary painting is executed on a polychrome linen cloth, commonly used for mummy bandages and shrouds. It is said to have been discovered by Bernard Bruyère during his excavations at Deir el-Medina with the French Institute. It seems to have been acquired by Lucien Lépine in Qurna before 1926. In the same year, it came into the possession of Paul Mallon (1884-1975), a Parisian antiquarian. A handwritten contemporary card with the image and details of the cloth could be viewed at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41227380/Documents/PIASA-18-June-15-Paul-Mallon.pdf - the link is no longer available online. A year later, it became part of the collection of Madame Arthur Sachs. Loviton Jeanne (1903-1996) acquired it in 1939 and it has remained in the family until today. The canvas shows the profile of a seated man looking to the right. In front of him is a pile of offerings. He wears a white, medium-length, pleated kilt and a usekh necklace around his neck. On his head is a short black curly wig topped with an ointment cone. The seat he sits on is black, with animal legs and a high curved back. He holds a piece of cloth in his right hand, while his left hand is extended towards the offerings, consisting of 3 pieces of bread, 3 pieces of vegetables and a piece of meat. In the field in front of him are two columns of hieroglyphs written in black ink. They are read from top to bottom, starting with the one on the right: 1st column: wdn xt nbt nfrt wabt = Offering everything beautiful and pure 2nd column: n kA n tA-nDm mAa xrw = for the Ka of Ta-Nedjem, true of voice Images painted on funerary textiles always show the deceased seated in front of an offering table. In some cases, the deceased is accompanied by an official. The only burial cloth found in situ was the one in tomb 1159 of Sennefer. A large painted white linen cloth covered Sennefer's coffin. It contained a painted scene of Sennefer seated in front of an offering table. The inscription reads: "Osiris, Servant in the Place of Truth, Sennefer". Photography © kairoinfo4u This painted piece of cloth is part of a small corpus of funerary canvases, of which only twenty-two known surviving examples were listed by Khaled el-Enany (BIFAO 110, see bibliography below). Most of these are in major international museums. Three of them share similarities with Ta-Nedjem Square in the way the body of the seated person is painted, so much so that it has been suggested that the same artist may have executed all 4. The other three come from the Louvre, Paris (Linen Square of the Scribe Khonson, late 18th-early 19th dynasty, Inv. N847), the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Linen, late 18th-early 19th dynasty, Inv. 1981.657) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Linen of Hori, late 18th-early 19th dynasty, Inv. 44.2.3). Ta-Nedjem is not one of the well-known figures from Deir el-Medina. Although Bernard Bruyère's dig diaries (http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/archives/bruyere/ ) contain the name of Ta-Nedjem preceded by an "f", suggesting that the name belonged to a female, the linen is not mentioned or drawn by Bruyère. Ta-Nedjem is an attested New Kingdom female name, but this does not seem to correspond to the image of the seated man. Ta-Nedjem's Linen is published by Annie Gasse of the National Centre for Scientific Research, as this new work challenges the various published dates for the number of pieces that make up this corpus. Provenance of the object: - Former collection of Lucien Lépine, acquired before 1926 Qurna. - Paul Mallon (1884-1975), antiquarian, Paris, acquired in 1926. - Former collection of Madame Arthur Sachs, acquired in 1927. - Former collection of Jeanne Loviton (1903-1996), acquired in 1939. - Remained in the family The Ta-Nedjem linen fetched 374,000 euros ($426,000) at auction in Paris on Thursday 18 June. The winning bid was made by telephone and the identity of the buyer was not disclosed. Bidding started at 50,000 euros and was over in a matter of minutes, organisers said. www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3129705/Rare-ancient-Egyptian-shroud-goes-hammer-Paris.html Sources: 1. K. el-Enany, “Un carré de lin peint au musée de l’Agriculture du Caire (inv. 893)” dans BIFAO 110, Le Caire, 2010, pp. 35-45. 2. Y. Volokhine, L’art du contour, catalogue d’exposition, Paris, 2013, p. 227, n° 80. Mummies & magic. The funerary arts of ancient Egypt, catalogue d’exposition, Boston, 1988, p. 135, n° 71. 3. W. C. Hayes, The scepter of Egypt, New York, 1959, p. 320, fig. 202. Centenaire de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, catalogue d’exposition, Le Caire, 1981, pp. 52-53, n° 38. Web sites accessed during May 11-17, 2015: http://www.piasa.fr/sites/default/files/upload/actualites/fichiers/PIASA_Le_carre_de_Ta-nedjem_18_juin_2015_0.pdf http://english.jschina.com.cn/20728/201505/t2147590.shtml June 18th 2015: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3129705/Rare-ancient-Egyptian-shroud-goes-hammer-Paris.html Further bibliography Back to top