The Wizards of Hieroglyphic

A few miles south of Sheikh Abd el Qurna lies the valley known as Deir el Medina, the convent of the city means, because at the time was there a Coptic monastery. In the Valley of the workers, Thutmose I built a village to live there for artists and craftsmen who made the graves. The pharaoh’s name is inscribed on the wall that surrounds the city. Craftsmen, artists, workers, stonecutters, masons, painters, sculptors, etc., lived in small houses. They were of adobe on stone foundations. The walls were plastered with mud, and the facades and some interior walls were whitewashed. The front door, overlooking the main street, was wooden and was seated on a wooden frame or limestone also could bear the name of the owner. Many times, the doors and lintels were painted red, a color protector and benefactor. The house had a living room, several rooms, basement and terrace. From the kitchen area, ample space without a roof, stairs that were emerged on the roof.

Ten days in a row

The main entrance of the village was north. The trapezoidal wall measuring about 6,000 meters and came to be about seventy houses arranged in rows along a narrow street running north to south. These ruins and tombs have provided extensive data on the families that lived there, the modes of work, leisure activities, laws and customs of everyday life. North of town, near the entrance to the Valley, is the Pit, never watered. When new empire at the end of this place became a hazard by the Libyans, they left the village and its inhabitants moved inside the walls of the temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu. Close by there is the temple of Hathor, built by the Ptolemies. The city was surrounded by a large wall.Nobody could get out, or come in, except to carry out the work. Many hours a day, with one day off after ten worked.

Different generations, from 1550 BC until 1000, from the XVIII dynasty until the end of the century, the royal necropolis were going down a path that avoided the harsh hills around Deir el Bahari.Many, besides working in the royal tombs, they did on their own. They were keepers of secrets and so they were very controlled. The servers in the “Square of the truth” were monitored by commissioners who were responsible for that secrets were kept.