Pharaoh's Workers: The Villagers of Deir el Medina.

• Author: Bleiberg, Edward

In this volume Leonard Lesko makes available the proceedings of a symposium held at Brown University. Six essays are equally divided between sections on social and economic concerns and spiritual and intellectual matters.

Deir el Medina was the home of the royal tomb artisans throughout the Egyptian New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1085 B.C.E.). The site is unique in ancient Egypt both because it provides evidence for the lives of non-elite people and because it is comparatively well-published. Ernesto Schiaperelli (1905-9) was the initial excavator. Bernard Bruyere continued the work (191751) and published it in preliminary form. Jaroslav Cerny's studies of the texts have also added greatly to our knowledge. Consequently the numerous textual and archaeological finds from this site have been the chief source of knowledge about non-elite Egyptians.

There is a tendency in Egyptology to view life at Deir el Medina as typical for those outside high government or religious office. But it should not be forgotten that the artisans' lives were far different from the lives of the simple peasants who constituted the majority of Egyptians. Furthermore, the only evidence available at the site stems from Dynasties XIX and XX. Dynasty XVIII, Egypt's economic and political apex, is virtually unknown at Deir el Medina, perhaps due to the village's abandonment during the Amarna period. With these cautions in mind, it is possible to appreciate the contributions in this volume.

Barbara S. Lesko examines the growing importance of a commercial economy in the Ramesside period. She rightly emphasizes that the royal artisans could no longer count on government support during this epoch of Egyptian history. Private commissions of tomb furniture occupied increasing portions of the worker's time once their government salaries became inadequate for their support. Additional sources of income from garden patches were also exploited. Andrea G. McDowell explores the workers' contact with the outside world in order to...