One of the best-known workers’ villages of ancient Egypt
is the village of Deir el-Medina, where workers on the Th eban
royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings lived. Founded under
the reign of Eighteenth Dynasty ruler Th utmose I (r. 1504–
1492 b.c.e.), the village was surrounded by a 21-foot mud-brick
wall. Over the course of its 500-year habitation, the village was
occupied initially by unskilled workers who lived in about 60
houses. As the work on the tombs increased, so did the size
of the village, which eventually grew from 60 households to
approximately 120 within an area of about 60,000 square feet.
In addition to size, the socioeconomic makeup of the village
changed in that its inhabitants soon included relatively affl u-
ent workers, such as masons, painters, and sculptors. Overall,
houses varied in size from 430 square feet to 1,300 square feet,
with the larger structures containing three big rooms, a kitch-
en, a yard, and underground cellars for storage. Th e homes
typically contained wall niches for statues of gods. Th e vil-
lage was abandoned aft er the last of the royal tombs were built
during the reign of Ramses XI (r. 1100–1070 b.c.e.).
TEMPLE TOWNS AND DISTRICTS
Th e relationship between towns and temples was a fundamen-
tal aspect of ancient Egyptian life. Oft en the temple served
as the central location for the eventual development of cities,
such as Memphis and Th ebes. During the New Kingdom (ca.
1550–1070 b.c.e.), settlements surrounded the temples and
included domestic dwellings and industrial facilities.
A good example of the importance of temple towns and
how later larger towns or cities built up around them is a
temple site that existed on the west bank of Th ebes in an area
called Medinet Habu. Traced back to the Eleventh Dynasty
(ca. 2140–1991 b.c.e.), the site contained a small shrine that
was rebuilt and expanded under the reigns of Hatshepsut (r.
ca. 1473–1458 b.c.e.) and Th utmose III (r. ca. 1479–1425 b.c.e.).
During the reign of Ramses III (r. ca. 1194–1163 b.c.e.) a larger
temple complex was built around the older temple buildings.
Th e larger complex included temples, administrative build-
ings, workshops, storehouses, a garden, and a funerary palace.
Beyond the wall surrounding the great temple were residential
houses, stables, orchards, and a stockyard. Encompassing the
entire site was a complex fortifi cation system of walls, tow-
ers, and a moat. Th is walled city contained two entrances. Th e
eastern gate facing the Nile River was several stories high and
decorated with scenes denoting the king’s authority. Th ere was
also a heavily fortifi ed western gate facing the desert.
By the Twentieth Dynasty (ca. 1196–1070 b.c.e.) Medinet
Habu served as an administrative center for the area, and the
housing areas once restricted to temple staff were soon inhabit-
ed by the general population. During this time the Great Girdle
Wall that surrounded the complex was destroyed, perhaps dur-
ing fi ghting with nomadic peoples. Rebuilt during the Twenty-
First Dynasty (ca. 1070–945 b.c.e.), the complex then included
small, closely packed houses on the eastern side and larger vil-
las with gardens on the west. Although the cult of Ramses III
was eventually abandoned sometime during the Twenty-First
Dynasty, the area remained a focal point for religious practices
and subsequently led to rebuilding and continued habitation
through the Coptic Period (ca. 400–800 c.e.) of Egypt.
For the most part, temple districts were planned better
than most of the early cities and towns. Individual temples
were laid out symmetrically with surrounding walls, some-
times nearly 40 feet thick. Streets and avenues were designed
to be wide, sometimes up to 16 feet, to accommodate pro-
cessions and other religious activities. Unlike most streets in
towns and cities, temple streets oft en were paved.
Initial planning of temple districts included a large open
space around the temple, but as the population grew, houses
were eventually built right up to the temple walls, which also
served as a strategic place to make a last stand in case of at-
tack. An interesting phenomenon concerning temple sites
is that as houses around the temple were continually rebuilt
over the older houses through the years, the temples them-
selves remained standing and oft en appeared to be sunk into
the ground. Th e larger cities of Memphis and Th ebes had a
number of temple complexes that were at one time separate
but eventually were interconnected by large avenues begin-
ning around the 18th Dynasty.FORTRESS SETTLEMENTS
Another form of specialized city was the fortifi ed settlement,
with some of the best known dating to the Middle Kingdom.
Fortifi ed settlements were also built in the northeast and
northwest, where they helped protect borders from various
invaders and mass immigration. Archaeologists have traced
the existence of fortifi ed settlements at least as far back as
2160 to 2040 b.c.e. A chain of fortifi ed settlements known
as the “Walls of Princes” was completed under Amenemhet I
(r. ca. 1991–1962 b.c.e.). Various other fortress complexes
were also built with functions such as supplying and protect-
ing river traffi c. One of the largest fortress settlements of an-
cient Egypt was excavated at Buhen, which is about 155 miles
south of present-day Aswān. Built over an Old Kingdom site
facing the Nile, the fortress was surrounded by a mud-brick
enclosure that had walls 26 to 30 feet high and sometimes
as thick as 16 feet. Th e enclosure also included external tow-
ers and was surrounded by a ditch and another brick-paved
parapet wall. Water was provided from the Nile via a stone
passage. In addition to an entrance facing the Nile, the for-
tress had a western entrance facing the desert.
Th e interior of the fortress was planned with a grid pat-
tern of streets with rectangular buildings made of brick. Initial
residents of the fortress included soldiers and their families as
well as government offi cials who oversaw the treasuries and
state granaries. Also inhabiting the fortress where interpret-
ers, scribes, and craft smen. Eventually, rotating troops and
offi cers were replaced by a permanent settlement of soldiers
and others within the fort. Much like the temple towns or
districts, this site and others like it eventually developed into
towns and cities that included residential areas and temples.
Th e site was populated until around 1552 b.c.e.208 cities: Egypt