Source Analysis: Deir El-Medina

Deir el-Medina was a village comprised of tomb workers and their families, established by Amenhotep I and his mother, Ahmose-Nefertari in the 18th Dynasty of New Kingdom Egypt. It currently holds a significant amount of evidence to assist the modern-day study of the inhabitants and their way of living in that period, as well as the society itself. Archaeological evidence is used in association with written evidence, founded in places such as tombs, as the basis of knowledge on the ancient world.

Religion was a paramount aspect of the lives of the occupants, and they often turn to the guidance of their gods. They believed in a life after death, which was when the body would be resurrected, therefore allowing them to live again in their afterlives. This led the Ancient Egyptians into placing possessions and goods in the tombs, which represented their religious rituals. This is shown in Source A where the tomb of Kha and Meryt contained multitude of bowls and furniture (usually from their daily lives). The source also reveals the importance of worship to the villagers in relation to the gods. In the burial painting of their tomb, Kha and Meryt were interpreted as praying to Osiris, the god of the dead, in order for them to reach the afterlife. Archaeological

The sarcophagus shown has hieroglyphics engraved upon it, which are also craved onto the statue of Kha, and the ushabtis put into their tomb. Many royal tombs has funerary texts, such as “The Book of the Dead”, and “The Amduat”, inscribed on the walls. These are evidence that the people of the village had knowledge on reading and writing. They also reveal that due to the myriad of literates, there were new jobs available to the workers in the village, for example, a scribe. In this case, the literacy levels of the occupants would not be known without archaeological