Deir El Medina Speech. -- essays research papers

Good morning/afternoon class, Deir el-Medina is one of Egypt's archaeological gems. Located in a little valley on the west bank across from Luxor are the well-preserved foundations of a village that was used for about 500 years during the New Kingdom. Its inhabitants included the workmen and artisans who constructed the New Kingdom royal tombs in the nearby Valley of the Kings. The name Deir el-Medina comes from the Arabic meaning "monastery of the town" because of the presence of a Ptolemaic temple nearby which was once used as a Coptic monastery. I have chosen to speak to you about the architecture in deir el medina. By its final stage approximately 70 houses stood within the village walls and 50 outside. Perhaps 600 people lived here by then. A wall surrounded the village approximately six meters high built of mud-brick. Gates were located at each end. The villages of Deir El Medina made up a special government department under the vizier of Upper Egypt, and were a select largely hereditary group of scribes, quarrymen, stonemasons, artisans, and labourers, who created the final resting place for their divine rulers. Most of the houses in Deir El Medina were built in a standard elongated design, 15 by 5 meters. They had rubble bases and mud brick structures, and shared walls like today’s terrace housing. Each of these houses would have the following features. Down several steps from the street was an entrance room, with niches for offerings, stelae and busts...