Social Structure
The social structure of Egypt itself was the hierarchy for the village people of Deir-El Medina, a chain of command led by the king at the top. Directly beneath him was the vizier which is the chief minister who supervised the government. These leaders were divided into two foremans, each supervised a ‘gang’ which are workers that were organised into two groups of labourers, one worked the left side while the other worked the right. They supervised the actual tomb work and day-to-day constructions of the tombs. They were the heads of the village, a representation of the vizier. The scribe also acted as a leader of the village, who supervised alongside the foreman’s, recording written accounts of constructions and of the workers. He would keep a written record of goods from the storehouses while paying the workers wage. Workmen were chosen for the role of guardians of the tomb and doorkeepers of the tomb. The royal workmen acted as guards to the tombs so nothing is stolen by tomb robbers. The Medjay were the police, keeping the tomb and the village workers safe from bandits and tomb robbers. The rest of the community were servants in the Place of Truth, the servants in the Place of Truth were the craftsman where specific skill set workers for specific projects. Children and female had roles of messaging between village and tombs, and also acted as servants to the craftsman as cleaners, cooks etc.
Commerce and Trade
The villagers of Deir El Medina were extremely fortunate and were gifted by the Pharaoh, earning riches beyond the average Egyptian from other areas, becoming wealthy enough to own land and livestock. However, many villagers weren't wealthy enough to afford mummification and burial process due to their social and economic status. Wealth was obtained through commerce and trade, an important aspect of life and living within the community for the village workers, with the absence of money usage, commerce and trade was a critical part of their livelihood. Evidence to how they survived without the use of money is recorded on their tomb walls, papyri and ostraca. Trade exchanges were made for goods through an exact measure of value, measured in units known as Deben. Buying and selling of goods was done by barter which is the exchanging of goods. The Deben unit was used in buying and selling through exchange. It was an extremely vital necessity towards the economy of the village, measuring the value of goods in exchange for necessities and essentials. Stone weights were used to measure the value of items, and then used to indicate which items you could trade for. Trade took place primarily along the riverbank.
Above Image: An example found on an ostracon from the 20th century dynasty of how a coffin was bought, using deben.
Below Image: In this barter economy, the buyers were also sellers
Below Image: In this barter economy, the buyers were also sellers
The Worker's Strike
In about 1128 BC, the first recorded strike in history took place among the workers of Deir-El Medina. According to archaeological and secondary sources, wages were delayed by half a month, and at one stage by half a year. A distressed and angered, impoverished community of village workers, were infuriated by their treatment under Ramesses III’s, stopped working and protested outside the walls of the mortuary temple to the west of the village of Deir-El Medina, to highlight their distress place upon Ramesses III’s construction programme at Thebes, which depleted the grain reserves used to pay the workmen of the royal Necropolis. This situation illuminated the flaws of what seemed to be a perfect society, revealing the similarities of flaws that we know today.
Scribe Neferhotep around Ramesses 25th year states ‘One and a half khar of grain have been taken from us…we are dying, we cannot live…” expressed the concerns and desperation of the workmen, arising dispute amongst the community.This archaeological evidence shows the propelling of the world’s first labour dispute. Egyptologist John Romer’s source interpretation of evidence from the inscriptions “We are impoverished. All the supplies for us that are from the treasury, the granary, and the storehouse have allowed to be exhausted. The stone [of the Palace of Beauty] is not light. One and a half hundredweight of grain has been taken away from us…[i.e. is missing from the ration] … make for us a means of keeping alive … we are dying, we do not live at all” John Romer. This extract supports the ancient inscriptions, clearly outlining the importance of the affair and how it affects the livelihood of the people.
Scribe Neferhotep around Ramesses 25th year states ‘One and a half khar of grain have been taken from us…we are dying, we cannot live…” expressed the concerns and desperation of the workmen, arising dispute amongst the community.This archaeological evidence shows the propelling of the world’s first labour dispute. Egyptologist John Romer’s source interpretation of evidence from the inscriptions “We are impoverished. All the supplies for us that are from the treasury, the granary, and the storehouse have allowed to be exhausted. The stone [of the Palace of Beauty] is not light. One and a half hundredweight of grain has been taken away from us…[i.e. is missing from the ration] … make for us a means of keeping alive … we are dying, we do not live at all” John Romer. This extract supports the ancient inscriptions, clearly outlining the importance of the affair and how it affects the livelihood of the people.