The "Place of Truth and Knowledge"

Deir El Medina – that ancient site on one hand means the simple ruins of a village (picture right), constructed with grey mud bricks during the New Kingdom (ca. 1570 - 1070 B. C.) in a hidden desert valley in front of the gourgeous background of the Theban mountains. On the other hand it means also beautiful decorated private little tombs, a later under Ptolemy IV. (222 - 205 B. C.) added little temple (picture below left), and a huge ancient cistern. For centuries Deir El Medina was known as a mystic place of secret knowledge, as a place of silence, called "set ma’at", the "Place of Truth". But then it fell into oblivion for a long time.

Today - as we think - a visit of Deir El Medina belongs to one of the attractions on the West Bank. Because after all the time with the right sense you can still feel the particular spirit of this place and its former inhabitants. Therefore it's no surprise, that the village itself, but overall the documentations, done by studies of the inscriptions of the discovered papyri as well as the thousands of ostraka, also inspired authors. Like the French bestseller-writer Christian Jacq, who became world famous with his cycle of novels with the title "Ramses II." In his last novel "The Stone of Light", published in four volumes in several languages, the main events of the story are set in Deir El Medina. During the world première, that took place in spring 2000 in the scene of action "set ma’at", Jacq declared his love to Egypt, particular to Luxor. And probably this epic with its subjects of power, plotting an scheminga, love and magic, contributes to arouse its readers curiosity, encourage them to see the places of the novel just once with their own eyes.

Deir el Medina - for milleniums a forgotten village. Founded under Thutmes I. (ca. 1524 - 1518 B. C.) the so-called "Brotherhood" was established. For several centuries some 100 families - sculptors, stone workers, drawers, painters, plasterers - lived there. And all of them knew the secrets: the location, the traps, and the interiors of the Pharaonic tombs in the valleys of the kings and queens. Cut off from the world around, they lived in complete isolation. The workers of the necropoles were supplied with every good like food and beverages, tools and all kind of their materials for work by helpers and carriers who were not allowed to enter the village. This isolation gave outsiders free reign to speculations about secret knowledge, about magic or supernatural forces and hidden treasures. But the the king himself took the "Brotherhood" under his wings. Only this protection ensured to the villagers a life in safety.

Marvellous material for a bestseller, isn't it? And you have to know: Not all of Jacq's actors are imaginary characters. A lot of them really lived there, are mentioned in scientific documentations. Found in ancient papyri, but most of all on ostraka found at the site and its surrounding in vast numbers, discovered pot and stone sherds, used for notices and exercises. Among other subjects this sherds give evidence for the first known strike of labours, that took place during the reign of Rameses III. (ca. 1182 - 1151 B. C.). Because of the absence of the delivery of food and beverages, the "Brotherhood" went on strike until their needed goods arrived again in the valley. Also the wall paintings in the private tombs, carefully done during the free time, give us a clear impression of the daily life inside the village. From the notices we know that the villagers compared their place with a boat. A boat riding on the waves of creativity, where the teams have been devided into "port side" und "starboard" groups. After a ten days working week this labour shifts take turns. But also the names Jacq uses in his novel have been partly indicated by records: for example the names of the supervisor of the right and the left team, most of the craftsmen and artists, who were working and living at "set ma’at" during the period which Jacq describes in "The Stone of Light".

Anyway, this ancient "notepads" offer not only material for imaginative authors, but of course especially for down-to-earth scholars. Because such a wealth in information about the daily life of the hundred families, about the administration in a village or the local jurisdiction, is very, very rare. Around 10.000 ostraka with non-literary contents predominant from the period of the Ramesides could be discovered at the site of Deir El Medina and its surrounding. Because only a small part of this findings of textes could be published up to now - lots of them have been submitted only in hieroglyphic transliteration - in September 1999 the University of Munich (Germany) directed by Prof. Dr. Günter Burkard started a Deir El Medina project, estimated to take minimum a five years time. The team is working with a manageable group of textes with the target to discribe these textes in detail according to a fixed pattern, to work out documentations of hieroglyphic transliterations and phonetic transcriptions, and to develop a complete encyclopedia with the words mentioned at the examined ostraka. The result of this Munich project shall be a good and solid instrument for scientific work, that is capable of being extended every time. The scholars are working on about 480 pieces, the biggest part from the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Who likes to know more about this project, is advised to visit the website http://www.fak12.uni-muenchen.de/aegyp/dem.html with in-depth coverage of the continuous work.

 

 

But all of reading of course is not the same than strolling by yourself along the streets of the village, to have a look into the ruins of the houses, where you can see the still existing stairs leading to the roofs. Come and visit Deir El Medina without being rushed, let your imagination run wild. May be then you will learn to listen to the laughter of playing children, the pleasant chat between next-door women, or the hammer blows out of the workshops. And if you climb up to the roof of the little temple dedicated to the goddesses Ma’at and Hathor, where Coptic monks lived their monastic liefe in the early Christian time, you have a phantastic view over the village. Additional you find the small but artistic and with care decorated tombs of Peshedu, Sennodjem, Inerkha and Ipui (not always all four tombs are open). Don't miss to visit at least one of them to get a short impression. There you find, that those who are responsible for the Royal tombs, also took care for a very beautiful decoration of their own last rest place. Delightful wall paintings are reporting about the life within the community of the village, beside this you find of course also series of religious scenes. Also worth a look is the outside of the little tombs: some of them have been "crowned" by little pyramids (picture right).

If you want you can extend your experience Deir El Medina. Exactly from there you can start to follow the footsteps of the workers and artists, can follow their way to the Valley of the Kings or the Valley of the Queens. Just next to the pathway to the site a modern staircase (picture left) guides you up the mountain (constructed for the two police stations). At the first station on half of the hight you reach the ancient pathways, turning left to the Valley of the Queens, turning right to the Valley of the Kings, from this one there is another path turnoff, which some people will use to climb down to the temple of Hatshepsut. A little hiking, guests who are fit enough should not miss. Because on the way you will have a look to the monuments of the West Bank in a very different way, in a different prospect (photo bottom, village and temple of Deir El Medina, in the background the Rameseum). So if you decide to climb up the mountains make sure, your photo- or video-camera is prepared for a lot of shots. By the way: this trip you can also do on the back of a donkey with a guide you trust. (Text Antje Sliwka)

Information

Tickets for 12 LE per person are available in the main ticket office nearby. Included is the village, the visit of two tombs and the temple. But here you have to take care. Mostly the guardian of the temple closes the stairs up to the roof, "this way is fordbidden". But one or two LE bakshish will open every way. To take photos inside the tombs is forbidden, you have to leave your camera on the entrance. Opening hours: summer 6 a.m. – 6 p.m., winter 6 a.m. – 5 p.m.