Pharaoh's Workers: The Villagers of Deir el Medina

212 Pages·2018·34.609 MB·English

by  Leonard H. Lesko

Pharaoh's Workers
Also by Leonard H. Lesko
The Ancient Egyptian Book of Two Ways
A Dictionary of Late Egyptian, 5 vols. (editor)
Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A. Parker (editor)
An Index of the Spells on Egyptian Middle Kingdom Coffins
and Related Documents
King Tut's Wine Cellar
Religion in Ancient Egypt:
Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice
(with Byron E. Shafer, John Baines, and David P. Silverman)
PHARAOH'S
WORKERS
The Villagers of Deir el Medina
Edited by
Leonard H. Lesko
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges a subvention
from Brown University which aided in the publication of this book.
Copyright © I 994 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 148 50.
First published I 994 by Cornell University Press.
Printed in the United States of America
0 The paper in this book meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-I984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el Medina I edited by
Leonard H. Lesko.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o-8oi4-2915-3 (cloth)- ISBN o-8o14-8143-o (paper)
1. Dayr al-Madinah Site (Egypt) 2. Working class-Egypt-Dayr al
Mad!nah Site. I. Lesko, Leonard H.
DT73.D47P47 I994
932-dc20 93-45650
Contents
List of Illustrations vu
Introduction I
PART I Social and Economic Concerns
9
ONE
Rank, Roles, and Rights
by Barbara S. Lesko I5
TWO
Contact with the Outside World
by Andrea G. McDowell 4I
THREE
Foreigners Living in the Village
by William A. Ward 6I
PART II Spiritual and Intellectual Matters 87
FOUR
Aspects of Domestic Life and Religion
by Florence D. Friedman 95
FIVE
Magical Practices among the Villagers
by ]oris F. Borghouts I I 9
Contents
SIX
Literature, Literacy, and Literati
by Leonard H. Lesko I 3 I
Abbreviations 145
Notes I53
Acknowledgments I89
Contributors I 9 I
Index I93
[vi]
List of Illustrations
Black and White Illustrations
Map of Western Thebes 3
Deir el Medina from the north 4
Deir el Medina from the south 4
Workmen's settlement and Deir el Bahri from the Gurn s
s
Valley of the Kings and Western Valley
Central portion of Valley of the Kings 6
Corridor to burial chamber of Ramses VI 6
Deir el Medina from the west 2 7
Typical house at Deir el Medina 27
Low-relief sculpture, tomb of King Merneptah 28
Veneration of deceased royalty, tomb of Amen-em-one 28
Workmen's settlement 29
Inherkhau and his family 30
Scenes of daily life, tomb of lpuy 30
Ostracon of woman at her oven 3 I
Ostracon of Deir el Medina stonemason 3 I
Statue of the scribe Ramose 3 2
Relatives of Pashed 49
so
Map of the gold mines
so
Riverbank scene
The scribe Amenhotep assisting at a funeral 5 I
s
Temple of Mut I
Ethnic diversity in plaster masks, Tell el Amarna s2
Religious scenes, tomb of lnherkhau 91
Chapel area, north end of Deir el Medina 9I
[vii]
List of Illustrations
Chapel at Deir el Medina 92
Workmen's cemetery on the western foothills 92
Plan of typical Deir el Medina house I03
Drawing of a so-called box bed I03
Box bed in Deir el Medina house 04
I
Variety in box beds I 04
Ostracon of mother and child I05
Reconstruction of a birth-arbor painting 106
Indoor altar, Tell el Amarna I06
One-figure ;1) i~r n R' stela I07
Two-figure ;1) i~r n R' stela I07
Ancestor bust Io8
Stela of offering to an ancestor bust I09
Workmen in a religious procession I 2 5
Color Plates
following page 86
Tomb of Queen Nefertari
Workers at the funeral of their father, tomb of Sennedjem
Field of Hetep, tomb of Sennedjem
Workman at prayer
Burial chamber, tomb of Ramses VI
Workmen decorating a shrine to Amenhotep I, tomb of lpuy
Sennedjem's family
Inherkhau and his wife
[viii]
Pharaoh's Workers