Deir el-Medina village housed skilled artisans who built Valley of the Kings tombs for 400 years. Deir el-Medina ancient name: Set Maat (place of truth or justice) Purpose-built state-run settlement housing artisans for nearly 400 years, roughly 1550 to 1080 BCE Founded during Thutmose I or possibly Amenhotep I; reached peak during Ramesses period
Deir el-Medina ('Place of Truth') housed the tomb builders for ~400 years. In 1156 BCE, workers staged history's first documented labor strike when grain rations failed—they marched on Waset, recorded on the Turin Strike Papyrus. Mayhem! 🥖⚒️
Key Facts
- Deir el-Medina ancient name: Set Maat (place of truth or justice)
- Purpose-built state-run settlement housing artisans for nearly 400 years, roughly 1550 to 1080 BCE
- Founded during Thutmose I or possibly Amenhotep I; reached peak during Ramesses period
- Village enclosed by 6-meter-high mud brick wall with controlled gates at north and south ends
- Workers paid in monthly grain rations supplemented with beer, vegetables, and occasional meat
- Two main work groups: workers on left and workers on right, divided labor by tomb sides
- Workers possibly blindfolded when taken to tombs to prevent remembering locations
- In 1156 BCE during Ramesses III reign, grain rations failed to arrive; workers laid down tools and marched on Waset in first documented labor strike in human history (Turin Strike Papyrus)
- Village had western cemetery where workers buried themselves
- Foreman Inherka's tomb dated to 20th dynasty contains Book of Gates and Book of Dead scenes
- Large cache of written documents found in pit: letters, grocery lists, daily life records providing rare evidence of common Egyptian life
Related site: Deir el-Medina — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: The Dangerous System Behind Egypt’s Royal Tombs by World of Antiquity