User:Starkid25/Deir el-Medina

Deir el-Medina (Egyptian Arabic: دير المدينة), or Dayr al-Madīnah, is an ancient Egyptian workmen's village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BCE) The villagers called it Pa Demi ("the village") but was officially referred to as Set maat ("Place of Truth"), and the workmen who lived there were called "Servants in the Place of Truth". During the Christian era, the temple of Hathor was converted into a Monastery of Saint Isidorus the Martyr (Coptic: ⲡⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲙ̄ⲫⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲡⲁ ⲓⲥⲓⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲙⲁⲣⲧⲉⲣⲟⲥ) from which the Egyptian Arabic name Deir el-Medina ("Monastery of the City") is derived.

= Excavation history = A significant find of papyri was made in the 1840s in the vicinity of the village and many objects were also found during the course of the 19th century. The archaeological site was first seriously excavated by Ernesto Schiaparelli between 1905–1909 which uncovered large amounts of ostraca. A French team directed by Bernard Bruyère excavated the entire site, including village, dump and cemetery, between 1922–1951. Unfortunately through lack of control it is now thought that about half of the papyri recovered were removed without the knowledge or authorization of the team director.

Around five thousand ostraca of assorted works of commerce and literature were found in a well close to the village. Jaroslav Černý, who was part of Bruyère's team, went on to study the village for almost fifty years until his death in 1970 and was able to name and describe the lives of many of the inhabitants. The peak overlooking the village was renamed "Mont Cernabru" in recognition of Černý and Bruyère's work on the village.* [Copied from the original site, planning on expanding more on parts of the excavation history]

= Village = The first datable remains of the village belong to the reign of Thutmose I (c. 1506–1493 BCE) with its final shape being formed during the Ramesside Period. It is believed that Amenhotep I was the one to fully plan out the village prior to his death.I At its peak, the community contained around sixty-eight houses spread over a total area of 5,600 m2 with a narrow road running the length of the village. The main road through the village may have been covered to shelter the villagers from the intense glare and heat of the sun. The size of the habitations varied, with an average floor space of 70 m2, but the same construction methods were used throughout the village. Walls were made of mudbrick, built on top of stone foundations. Mud was applied to the walls, which were then painted white on the external surfaces, while some of the inner surfaces were whitewashed up to a height of around one metre. A wooden front door might have carried the occupants' name. Houses consisted of four to five rooms, comprising an entrance, main room, two smaller rooms, kitchen with cellar and staircase leading to the roof. The full glare of the sun was avoided by situating the windows high up on the walls. The main room contained a mudbrick platform with steps which may have been used as a shrine or a birthing bed. Nearly all houses contained niches for statues and small altars. The tombs built by the community for their own use include small rock-cut chapels and substructures adorned with small pyramids.

As for the rest of the village layout, the purposes of additional buildings that aren't homes are hotly debated by scholars as to their purposes such as a "guard house" located next to the main entrance in the north wall. Additionally all of the homes were closely packed together to use up all of the available space.

Due to its location, the village is not thought to have provided a pleasant environment. The walled village reflects the shape of the narrow valley in which it's situated, with the barren surrounding hillsides reflecting the desert sun and the hill of Gurnet Murai cutting off the north breeze, as well as any view of the verdant river valley. It's believed that the location of the village was for the purposes of isolating the population from the rest of the area so that the focus would entirely be on their work in the Valley of the Kings. The village was abandoned c. 1110–1080 BCE during the reign of Ramesses XI (whose tomb was the last of the royal tombs built in the Valley of the Kings) due to increasing threats from tomb robbery, Libyan raids and the instability of civil war. The Ptolemids later built a temple to Hathor on the site of an ancient shrine dedicated to her.* [Copied from the original site, working more on expanding about the village and its foundings.]

= Religious Practices = Temples around the village were built as it expanded with the first being the Cult temple of Amenhotep (c. 1515 BCE) I following his death and deification. The temple was at the northern end of the settlement just north-east of the Chapel of Hathor (c. 1290 BCE). [Continuing to expand on this section to involve more information]