Deir el-Medina [village] (Dayr al-Madinah, Thebes, Egypt) : General view of the village remains and cemetery, looking northeast, showing location in a small valley

Creator:

unknown (Egyptian (ancient)

Published/Created:

Dayr al-Madinah, Thebes, Upper Egypt, Egypt

Date Depicted:

8/20/2003

Materials:

stone

Notes:

Deir el-Medina [Arabic: 'Monastery of the village']. Site of a village in a small valley towards the south end of the Theban necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile. There are a few traces of occupation in the Middle Kingdom, but the site was at its peak in the New Kingdom. In the Coptic period (ca. 3rd-7th century CE) a monastery was built at the northern end of the site; this gave rise to its modern name. During the New Kingdom the village housed the officials, artists, craftsmen and labourers responsible for the excavation and decoration of the royal tombs of the period. The village reached its greatest extent during the Ramesside period. Its rectangular enclosure wall contained 68 dwellings. Surrounding the village on the west and north were the terraced cemeteries and local chapels built by the workmen. Because of the artistic skills gained through their work on the royal tombs, the workmen of Deir el-Medina produced an unusually large number of well-executed personal monuments, including statuary, stelae, offering tables, pyramidia, decorated chapels, tombs and houses. A vast quantity of papyri and ostraca (stone or pottery fragments used as writing surfaces) have been recovered from the site, since the villagers were unusually literate and bureaucratically administered. The monumental and textual remains of Ramessid Deir el-Medina therefore represent the most complete record of social and artistic life of any pharaonic site. The Ptolemaic temple enclosure was eventually adapted for monastic use and the temple itself converted into a Coptic church.

Topics:

Architecture -- Egypt -- (YVRC)

Culture:

Egyptian (ancient)

Accession Number:

1A3-EG-T-DAM-A1

Genre:

architecture (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

architectural exteriors; death or burial; domestic life; genre; Egypt--Civilization; Egypt--Religion construction complexes; cemeteries; necropolises; complexes; housing projects; complexes; sites (locations); archaeological sites; excavations (sites)

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Module One

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
8/20/2003

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10115302

PID:

digcoll:1839490