J.J. Janssen

The community of necropolis workmen of Deir el-Medina was part of the administrative branch responsible for the preparation of the royal tombs. To this department also belonged several groups of service personnel. This volume presents separate studies on three groups of this service staff. Two of these belonged to the so-called smdt, namely the woodcutters and the potters, while the third group occupies a position somewhere in between the workmen and the smdt, the doorkeepers.

In "Ten Studies on the History and Administration of Deir el-Medina" the author discusses various subjects pertaining to the community of necropolis workmen at Thebes during the New Kingdom. Some illustrate particular aspects of their life in general, such as the sources of and the rights to their provisions or their free time, others deal with individual texts or events and their relations with the authorities.