Dajr al-Madina – Workers' tombs
Workers' tombs
You can see the village while traveling on a donkey, but the main attraction are the tombs. The ticket from the main ticket office only allows you to visit the settlement, temple, the tomb of Sennedzem and Inherchau. To view the tomb of Paszed, you must buy a separate ticket at the gate (20 EGP). Three tombs with perfectly preserved paintings are made available to visitors. The workers' tombs are among the most visited, which is good for them. They were built at the foot of the rock, just a few meters from the estate.
They are not much different from each other: they all consist of a small pylon or two courtyards with a chapel facing east, above which rises a pyramid of bricks.
There are several rooms carved in the rock in the tomb. You can see scenes from the everyday life of the deceased and his family as well as funeral ceremonies: embalming and mouth opening ceremony. These graves were made using substitute materials or modest means "organized" at the workplace. The creativity of the craftsmen proves their great skills. There are also many recycled materials. The walls of the tombs are covered with paintings made in the tempera technique on plaster or stucco, which was placed directly on the dried brick. The first sketches were made with a red line, and patches are made in white. The final drawing was made with black paint, then the colors were applied. In times of prosperity, the tombs sparkled with colors (in the nineteenth dynasty, paintings on a yellow background were fashionable), and in times of poverty, the polychrome was replaced by a one-color decoration on a white background.
While the tombs from the eighteenth dynasty have almost completely disappeared, the Ramessid tombs are well-preserved and in excellent condition. Pictures are not allowed in the tombs.
The largest tomb of Paszed in the necropolis (Peszed; TT3) made available to visitors in the years 90. XX w. During the Ramessid era he held the office of Servant in the Place of Truth in the West of Thebes. This is one of the most beautiful and decorated Egyptian tombs. The walls are painted ocher yellow, and the figures and texts of the Book of the Dead are brightly reflected against this background. It is entered from a small courtyard, and the low, arched passage leads to the vaulted burial chamber. The figures of Anubis as a black jackal are depicted on the wall of the passage, lying on white chapels with a nechacha whip in his hind leg.
After entering the burial chamber in the tympanum above the Paszed Passage, he and his son Menna adore the falconry Ptah-Sokaris with outstretched wings, sitting in the barge, over which there is an eye on the edge. On the short wall of Paszedia, he is kneeling under a palm tree - the tree of rebirth after death. Perhaps he is drinking water from the source of life.
On the right are three rows of the family and ancestors of the deceased standing in a pose of adoration, and at the top there is a small figure of the goddess of sycamore. On the north wall you can see a group of gods with Horus, to whom Paszedu and his family pay tribute. At the bottom of the north face of Paszed with a little girl (granddaughter) stands in front of Re-Horachte and Atum, Chepri i Ptahem. On the other side of the deceased, his wife Nejmetbehdet and their two children adore Horus. The zone of Paszedu is presented in a typical Ramessid style: he has a wig on his head, and a linen band holds a cone of perfumes on the top of the head, which melting, it slowly gave off a pleasant scent.
On the tympanum of the western wall, next to Osiris and Horus the falcon, the great eye of the Jug is represented, supporting the torch. Below stands Paszedu in a gesture of adoration. Then you can see the deceased and his wife on a boat sailing to the West, and once again Paszed adoring the gods. The tombs from the Ramessid period are devoid of previous scenes from everyday life and are often characterized by more formalism in the selection of iconography.
Outdoor in 1886 r. Sennedjem tomb intact (TT1) it had exceptionally rich furnishings (currently at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo). Sennedjem he was a worker living in Deir al-Madina (Deir cl Medina) in the time of Seti I and Ramses II (XIX dynastia) and boasted the title of Servant in the Place of Truth.
Found in the tomb 20 mumii (nine of them in coffins) heirs and relatives of the family. The famous, beautiful paintings on an ocher background have been preserved in exceptionally good condition.
In terms of style, they belong to the Ramessid era, although they were painted by a great master. In keeping with the tradition of this period, the iconographic repertoire is rather conventional.
In the northern part of the craftsmen village there is a Ptolemaic temple. She was dedicated to Hathor, Measure, Amenhotep to the son of Hapu and Imhotep, and the builders of royal tombs and great temples erected it for themselves. It was established in the 3rd century. p.n.e., for Ptolemy IV Philopatora, and it was extended under Ptolemy VI Philometor (II w p.n.e.). In the Coptic period, the shrine was turned into a monastery, hence the Arabic name of the settlement – Dajr al-Madina (Deir el Medina), that is, the City Monastery. The assumption has been preserved in exceptionally good condition.