07

Sep

Life in Ramesside Deir el-Medina: in the Footprints of the Scribe Qenherkhepshef

Lecture by Silvia Štubňová, PhD Candidate, Brown University

  • 5:00 pmIllinois
  • The Oriental Institute of the University of ChicagoLaSalle Banks Room
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Deir el-Medina is a well-known site situated on the Theban west bank that was inhabited by the workmen and craftsmen who built and decorated the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens during the New Kingdom. The village has provided Egyptologists with a unique range of materials and evidence concerning its ancient residents. In this talk we will look at what it was like living in the village in the Ramesside times by tracing the footsteps of one of the most well-known scribes of the village, Qenherkhepshef. We will look at various aspects of his life, including his parents and wives, his career, his relationship with other scribes and workmen, his graffiti around the Theban hills, the administrative and literary ostraca and papyri that he compiled, as well as his library archive. Through the uniquely large amount of evidence on this inhabitant of Deir el-Medina we can catch a glimpse of the life and personality of an ancient Egyptian individual.