Deir el-Medina is an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the workmen and artisans responsible for constructing the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. It is nestled in a small valley north of the Valley of the Queens on the west bank. The village was founded during or before the reign of Thutmose I and flourished until the end of the 20th Dynasty.
The outlines of the “workmen’s village” are still clearly visible, and extant reliefs offer a fascinating portrait of everyday life.
Deir El-Medina contains the ruins of the settlement, most of which dates to the Ramesside Period. Just beyond its northern limits is a Ptolemaic temple, dedicated to the goddesses Hathor and Maat, consisting of a small building within an enclosure wall.
Above the settlement, hidden within the cliffs, are the workers’ tombs. They include some of the finest decorated private tombs in all of Thebes such as the tombs of Sennedjem, Inherkau, and Peshedu.