Deir el-Medina

Deir el-Medina is a village set within a small, natural amphitheater on the west bank of the Nile. It was established during the eighteenth dynasty by pharaoh Thutmose the First to house the specialized artisans who built and decorated the royal tombs in the nearby Valley of the Kings. Because their work involved the pharaohs' final resting places, these craftsmen lived in an isolated, restricted community to ensure the secrecy of the tomb designs and locations.