| The settlement |
| Tombs |
| Rock shrine |
| Temple |
| Huts |
| Images of Deir el-Medina : past & present |
Deir el-Medina is a 3000-year-old village, the remains of which nestle
in a small secluded valley in the shadow of the Theban hills, on the west
bank of the Nile, across from modern-day Luxor in Upper Egypt.
The settlement's ancient name, "St-maat-hr-imenty-Wast", means
"The Place of Truth, to the West of Thebes". The Arabic name Deir
el-Medina, means "The Convent of the Town", as during the Muslim
conquest of Egypt, the village's Ptolemaic temple had been converted into
a Christian church.
Throughout the New Kingdom (since about 1550 BC) the village was
inhabited by workmen who were responsible for constructing and
decorating the royal tombs in both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley
of the Queens.
The location is unique for its unrivalled wealth of archaeological, artistic
and textual evidence that has survived and from which we can
reconstruct many aspects of the daily lives of its ancient inhabitants.
These web pages document the past and the present of this, in my
opinion, the prettiest archaeological site in the world, based on our own
photographic material, that we obtained during our visits to Egypt and to
various museums that house objects originating from Deir el-Medina.
These pages are composed as a tribute to Professor Jaroslav Cerny, a
Czech Egyptologist, who devoted most of his life to the study of this
community.
Lenka & Andy Peacock
London, UK
August 11th 2007
in a small secluded valley in the shadow of the Theban hills, on the west
bank of the Nile, across from modern-day Luxor in Upper Egypt.
The settlement's ancient name, "St-maat-hr-imenty-Wast", means
"The Place of Truth, to the West of Thebes". The Arabic name Deir
el-Medina, means "The Convent of the Town", as during the Muslim
conquest of Egypt, the village's Ptolemaic temple had been converted into
a Christian church.
Throughout the New Kingdom (since about 1550 BC) the village was
inhabited by workmen who were responsible for constructing and
decorating the royal tombs in both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley
of the Queens.
The location is unique for its unrivalled wealth of archaeological, artistic
and textual evidence that has survived and from which we can
reconstruct many aspects of the daily lives of its ancient inhabitants.
These web pages document the past and the present of this, in my
opinion, the prettiest archaeological site in the world, based on our own
photographic material, that we obtained during our visits to Egypt and to
various museums that house objects originating from Deir el-Medina.
These pages are composed as a tribute to Professor Jaroslav Cerny, a
Czech Egyptologist, who devoted most of his life to the study of this
community.
Lenka & Andy Peacock
London, UK
August 11th 2007
| Museum collections |
| Shrines |