Fig. 1: aerial shot of Deir el-Medina, with the Ptolemaic temple of Hathor visible at the top right
Welcome back to Ancient World Corner!
Last week I went back to work at my part-time job. Predictably, it only took about an hour before I found myself woefully wishing (as I’m sure many of us were) for more holiday. This was certainly not helped by the gloomy weather Wales is currently experiencing, typical of January. It’s wet, cold and dreary and I’d like nothing more than to stay at home curled up under a warm blanket. Preferably with hot chocolate.
Once I pulled myself out of my work-induced brooding, however, I began wondering about the ancient job market. What jobs did people find themselves working in the past? Perhaps it was due to wishing for sunshine and warm weather that I started thinking specifically about ancient Egypt. Deserts, hot sandy air, no rain – sounds nice about now (although I’m sure in reality it has plenty of its own drawbacks!).
Anyway, to satisfy my apparent need to relate to people from about 3500 years ago, today’s blog post will take a look at five fascinating jobs from Deir el-Medina – and how the people doing them might have felt upon starting work for the day.
Deir el-Medina: The Artists’ Village
Fig. 2: The interior of KV11 (Tomb of Ramesses III) at the Theban Necropolis
Deir el-Medina was far from a typical ancient Egyptian New Kingdom settlement. The village was used as a home for the craftsmen and their families who were assigned to work on the tombs of the Pharaohs, earning them the title ‘servant in the place of truth’. The royal necropoli were called the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. The wider Theban necropolis also includes non-royal elite burials.
The village was most likely founded during the reign of Thutmose I (around 1500 BCE), and was at maximum expansion during the 12th Dynasty (1292-1189 BCE). Whilst at its peak, there were around 120 workmen living in the village with their families, alongside other residents serving the village (such as potters, carpenters, etc.).
Working in the ‘Place of Secrets’ and ‘Place of Truth’
Fig. 3: The main thoroughfare with remains of houses lining the street
There has been considerable debate over to what extent the villagers were allowed to leave Deir el-Medina. Their work was considered highly confidential and carried a large amount of responsibility – after all, they were in charge of creating the final resting place for their kings and queens, as well as ensuring they had everything they needed for their journey to the afterlife. Even if they could leave the village freely, the demands of the work likely left little spare time, so they would have spent most of the day amongst the same small community.
Perhaps due to the confidential nature of their work, there is evidence of the craftsmen sometimes referring to themselves as working in the ‘Place of Secrets’ – either meaning the royal Theban necropolis or perhaps the tomb of the king himself. For example, the sculptor Ipuy gave himself the title of ‘Sculptor in the Place of Secrets’ on a small statuette. They also referred to themselves as working in the ‘Place of Truth’ – apparently another name for the area.
Structure and Hierarchy
The administrative structure of the village was highly developed, as was most of ancient Egyptian administration (they loved a good bit of admin – even inventing their writing system to keep track of taxes!). Therefore it’s unsurprising that jobs varied in seniority, prestige and type. We can split the jobs carried out in the village into three broad categories: jobs related to the creation of the royal Theban tombs, jobs within the village, and jobs carried out by external support staff. The following list has examples representing each of the three.
1: Draughtsman
Fig. 4: Ostracon from Deir el-Medina showing a practice drawing (ÄM 3307)
We begin this list with the role of draughtsman. This was an essential role for the creation of the royal tombs, and was considered highly skilled. The draughtsmen were responsible for decorating the royal tombs with the required scenes. First they drew the outline, then sculptors stepped in to carve the hieroglyphic inscriptions and images (most in bas-relief), before the draughtsmen returned to paint the work with polychrome pigment (I could write a whole post on polychrome pigment, honestly. Maybe three).
Draughtsmen underwent an intensive training process and we have some surviving sherds of pottery illustrating their practice. Many student attempts and practice drawings can be seen on ostraca found in a giant deposit called the Great Pit. This is where most of our textual evidence for the village comes from. Although originally meant to be a well, the villagers never managed to reach the water table, so it became a giant rubbish dump. Very lucky for us!
2: Scorpion Controller
This was perhaps the most dangerous job on our list! The village’s scorpion controller was responsible for the disposal of snakes and scorpions, as well as treating stings and bites. It appears that one of the workmen would take this on as a secondary role (the same arrangement was in place for the village doctor) and would receive an extra grain ration for his efforts.
To treat these injuries, the scorpion controller would use contemporary medical practices also followed by the physician, and if this failed would resort to charms and magic in an attempt to heal the poisoned villagers.
There are five known workmen who acted as scorpion controllers: Amenmose, Amenmose (yep, a second one), Ptahshedu, Neferhotep and Amenkhau.
3: Scribe
Fig: 5: ostracon from Deir el-Medina inked with the ‘Satire of the Trades’ (HO 356)
A scribal role was a highly coveted position at Deir el-Medina and indeed at any Egyptian settlement.
In the Great Pit, many student copies of the ‘Satire of the Trades’ have been found – a humorous Middle Egyptian literary text that declares the role of scribe to be superior to all others, as ‘If, though, you know how to write, that is better life for you than these [other] professions’ and ‘no scribe will ever be lacking in food’.
Once official scribes, they could work in association with the villagers in one of two ways: by being a scribe of the tomb, or a scribe of the smdt – who worked outside the village but managed the arrival of supplies.
4: Wise Woman
The wise woman (or tꜣ rḫyt – meaning ‘one who knows’) is an ambiguous figure mentioned in documents from the village. Although our information about her is limited, we can perhaps deduce that she was a venerated, admired woman and considered to have preternatural powers.
Villagers seem to have gone to her for advice, with several texts revealing that they sought her help in relation to being plagued by the bꜣw – a manifestation of a deity. This torment was believed to have been caused by upsetting the deity in some way.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the wise women themselves. We have no recorded names, knowledge of whether they trained for their profession, or if they received pay for their work. Their connection and importance to the villagers of Deir el-Medina, however, is clear.
5: Water-Carrier
The last job on our list is slightly different from the rest – the role of water-carrier (inw-mw).
Unlike the draughtsmen, scribes of the tomb, scorpion-controllers and wise women, the water-carriers were not part of the resident village workforce. Insitead, they were part of the smdt n pꜣ ḫr or smdt n bnr. Both these terms were used to refer to the support staff who worked at Deir el-Medina. They were sent by the state to supply them with various needs.
Water-carriers were responsible for supplying the villagers with all of their water, as no water was available at the site (hence the attempt to build a well). Despite the clearly essential nature of their work, water-carriers and other smdt staff had much lower social status than the workers of the tomb and were paid considerably less – only between ¾ and 1 khar of emmer-wheat.
These are only a few of the jobs carried out at Deir el-Medina…
Fig. 6: Wall painting from the Tomb of Sennedjem
The village is a fascinating one, as I hope this brief look has shown you, and the amount of evidence we have for this village – both textual and archaeological – is unparalleled by any other ancient Egyptian settlement. The ostraca provide a rare glimpse into the everyday work of the villagers, who lived in such a unique situation.
In the bibliography below you will find a few incredible sources for further reading if you wish to learn more about the village and its inhabitants. Davies’ ‘Life Within the Five Walls’ is a great reference work, listing topics about the village in alphabetical order with primary evidence lists at the back, along with timelines and charts. ‘Village Life in Ancient Egypt’ by McDowell is a brilliant source filled with translations of the original ostraca. ‘Pharaoh’s Workers’, edited by Lesko, although no longer a recent publication, is still filled with brilliant chapters written by a number of experts in the field. There are also several websites to explore.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next one!
-Jess
Bibliography
Davies, Benedict G., Life within the Five Walls: A Handbook to Deir El-Medina (Abercromby Press, 2018)
Lesko, L. H. (Ed.), Pharaoh’s workers : the villagers of Deir el Medina. Cornell University Press, 1994)
McDowell, A. G., Village Life in Ancient Egypt: Laundry Lists and Love Songs (New York: Clarendon Press, 1999)
Websites
Donker van Heel, K., B. Haring, R. Demarée and J. Toivari-Viitala, The Deir el-Medina Database (2025), <https://dmd.wepwawet.nl/> [accessed 16 January 2026]
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Deir el Medine Online (2009), <https://dem-online.gwi.uni-muenchen.de/> [accessed 16 January 2026]
UCL, The ‘wise woman’ at Deir el-Medina (2002), <https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/age/agewisewoman.html?utm_source=copilot.com> [accessed 16 January 2026]
List of Figures
Fig. 1: Wikimedia Commons (Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC BY-SA)
Fig. 2: Wikimedia Commons (R Prazeres, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Fig. 3: Wikimedia Commons (Djehouty, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Fig. 4: Wikimedia Commons (Anagoria, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)
Fig. 5: Wikimedia Commons (Zunkir, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Fig. 6: Wikimedia Commons (Gerd Eichmann, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
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