Deir el Medina in Hyperreality

Seeking the People of Pharaonic Egypt

Abstract

This study provides an archaeological re-appraisal of the prevalent view of Deir el Medina. Before embarking on an analysis of the material, several misleading stereotypes pertaining to the village are deconstructed. The paper concentrates on a possible discourse between archaeological and textual data in a few specific areas of village life: architectural analysis, private enterprise, agricultural activity, and gender. The methodology presented here is directed towards a systematic study of ordinary social life, which may be achieved without reverting to the popularist approaches of some previous social studies of Deir el Medina. Whilst Deir el Medina is considered an anomaly by Egyptologists, they have continuously used evidence gleaned from that site to describe daily life; this is a contradiction in terms. This anomalous picture is significantly modified by a more comprehensive archaeological study of the site and its environs. Many everyday aspects of community life at the site can be examined, depending on the level of archaeological analysis chosen. A systematic study of Deir el Medina helps to fill the lacunae in our knowledge of village sites, and proves to be an invaluable source of information concerning ancient Egyptian society. The concept of settlement archaeology, rather than text-based discourse alone, offers a systematic theoretical and methodological framework from which to conduct Egyptian archaeology.