Ancient site · Luxor
Deir el-Medina
The village of the artisans who built and decorated the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, on Luxor's West Bank: a rare glimpse of everyday life behind the pharaohs' grandeur.
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The story
The village was founded early in the New Kingdom, around the 16th century BC, to house the teams of artisans who cut and decorated the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings. Its people called it Set Maat, the Place of Truth. The walled settlement held about 68 houses, and the surrounding cemeteries hold the workers' own finely painted tombs. They also left thousands of inscribed pottery fragments, called ostraca, that describe daily life, including a strike around 1150 BC over delayed rations, often cited as one of the earliest recorded labour protests. The village was abandoned near the end of the New Kingdom, around 1100 BC. In Ptolemaic times a small temple of Hathor was built here and later used by monks as a monastery, which gave the site its modern name, Deir el-Medina, meaning Monastery of the Town. It lies within the UNESCO World Heritage site Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, inscribed in 1979.
Good to know
- Its inhabitants called the village Set Maat, the Place of Truth.
- The walled village held about 68 houses for the royal tomb artisans and their families.
- The village left thousands of inscribed pottery fragments that document daily life.
- Around 1150 BC its workers went on strike over delayed rations, often cited as one of the earliest recorded strikes.
- The name Deir el-Medina means Monastery of the Town, after the Hathor temple that monks later used as a monastery.
Visiting tips
The village is usually visited as part of a Luxor West Bank day, and you can walk among the house foundations and see the Ptolemaic Hathor temple. We could not confirm opening hours or ticket prices from an official page, and they can change by season, so please check before visiting; early morning is kinder in summer.