# Deir el-Medina Guide: History, Tickets & What to See

Source: https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina
Language: en

# Deir el-Medina

دير المدينة

A walled village of about seventy small houses in a dry hollow behind the hills, where the men who cut and decorated the royal tombs lived with their families for four hundred years.

A village of specialist tomb workers, with an unusually rich record of letters, accounts, drawings and disputes. Its surviving houses bring the royal necropolis into a more personal focus.

Published sources · confirm changing details before travel

**Already at the site?**Keep the visit sequence and details to look for close to hand.

[Open the field guide](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina/visit)

In one paragraph

The village is a single street running north to south inside a mud-brick wall, with houses opening off it on both sides. Each house is a narrow strip: an entrance room, a main living room with a column base still in the middle of its floor, one or two small back rooms, a stair to the roof, and a kitchen open to the sky at the far end, with a cellar under the floor.

Time needed: About 1 hour · Best time of day: A cooler part of the day, subject to confirmed opening hours and the forecast.

[Deir el-Medina: The Ancient Egyptian Village That Makes the Tombs Feel Human](https://luxor101.com/journal/what-the-workmen-wrote-down)

**Type**: Village

**Bank**: West bank

**Period**: New Kingdom – Ptolemaic Period

**Principal deity**: Hathor

**Time needed**: About 1 hour

**Best time of day**: A cooler part of the day, subject to confirmed opening hours and the forecast.

**Heat exposure**: High _· Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break._

**Walking**: Moderate _· The village paths, tomb approaches and later temple are separate parts of a visit. Ask about the route to your selected areas and any descent; no measured accessible circuit is recorded._

**Guide**: Recommended

**Ticket**: 220 EGP · foreign adult, per person

**Photography**: The official ticket page lists mobile-phone photography as free. Confirm room-specific restrictions and rules for other equipment at the site.Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Deir El Medina — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/DeirElMadinaTemple) [Deir El Medina — ticket categories](https://egymonuments.com/book-date/12)

**Current access**: Current access not verified

Dashed boxes mark information we have not verified. Check essential prices, hours and access arrangements with the official venue before travelling.

FIG. 1 — DEIR EL-MEDINA · A VILLAGE OF MAKERS

## The people who made the royal tombs.

A schematic village, its western cemetery, the Great Pit and the later temple, with a painted-ceiling study. House and tomb outlines are representative rather than a measured survey.

LANDSCAPE & DETAIL · SCHEMATIC

1\. A front room you can still read

Select a number to explore a detail here.

1.  [A front room you can still read](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-house-plan)
2.  [The workmen gave themselves pyramids](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-workmen-pyramids)
3.  [The well that never found water](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-great-pit)
4.  [A burial chamber painted like woven cloth](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-painted-ceiling)

Houses & the Great Pit

1\. A front room you can still read

-   THE VILLAGE
-   GREAT PIT

Select a number to explore a detail here.

1.  [A front room you can still read](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-house-plan)
2.  [The well that never found water](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-great-pit)

The workmen’s cemetery

2\. The workmen gave themselves pyramids

Select a number to explore a detail here.

1.  [The workmen gave themselves pyramids](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-workmen-pyramids)

Temple & painted ceiling

4\. A burial chamber painted like woven cloth

-   LATER TEMPLE

Select a number to explore a detail here.

1.  [A burial chamber painted like woven cloth](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#lookfor-deir-el-medina-painted-ceiling)

Text alternative for this figure

The people who made the royal tombs.

| Look for this | Where |
| --- | --- |
| 1. A front room you can still read | From the permitted paths, follow the surviving outlines of rooms, doorways and streets. These remains help you picture a compact settlement without entering fragile or restricted structures. |
| 2. The workmen gave themselves pyramids | The slope of the western hill, directly above the houses |
| 3. The well that never found water | The great shaft at the north end of the village, outside the enclosure wall |
| 4. A burial chamber painted like woven cloth | Inside the decorated tombs on the hillside, when they are open |

A schematic village, its western cemetery, the Great Pit and the later temple, with a painted-ceiling study. House and tomb outlines are representative rather than a measured survey.

Look for this

## Details worth stopping for.

Numbers match the plan above. Each entry says where it is, what you will actually see, and how confident anyone can be about what it means.

1.  1
    
    ### A front room you can still read
    
    [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#site-drawing)
    
    From the permitted paths, follow the surviving outlines of rooms, doorways and streets. These remains help you picture a compact settlement without entering fragile or restricted structures.
    
    Each house is a strip off the street: an entrance room with a built platform against one wall, then a main room with a stone column base in the middle of the floor and a low bench along the side, then small back rooms, a cellar under the floor, and the stump of a stair to the roof.
    
    Fact — the plan and its elements. Uncertain — what the platform in the front room was for. It has been read as a birthing bed, a household shrine and an ordinary couch, and specialists do not agree.
    
    Domestic architecture adds a different perspective to the temples and tombs. Here, the spaces of a working community can be read alongside its written records.
    
2.  2
    
    ### The workmen gave themselves pyramids
    
    [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#site-drawing)
    
    The slope of the western hill, directly above the houses
    
    A terrace of small tomb chapels, several with steep mud-brick pyramids standing over them, each with a shaft beside or beneath it going down to a painted chamber.
    
    Fact — the chapels, their pyramids, their date, and that royal pyramid building had ended before them. Interpretation — that the workmen chose the form because the kings had given it up. No text says why they used it, and mainstream sources do not fix an interval between the two.
    
    Pyramids had been royal for centuries, and royal pyramid building in Egypt had ended generations before these small ones were raised. So the men who cut the kings’ hidden tombs are the ones with pyramids over their graves, and the kings they worked for are not.
    
3.  3
    
    ### The well that never found water
    
    [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#site-drawing)
    
    The great shaft at the north end of the village, outside the enclosure wall
    
    A very deep shaft sunk into the rock, wide at the top and stepped, dug in the hope of reaching the water table and abandoned when it did not.
    
    It was then used as a rubbish tip, and thousands of the ostraca that tell us how these people lived came out of it. Much of what this village has told us about daily life in ancient Egypt was retrieved from a failed well the villagers had been throwing their paperwork into.
    
4.  4
    
    ### A burial chamber painted like woven cloth
    
    [Back to the drawing](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/deir-el-medina#site-drawing)
    
    Inside the decorated tombs on the hillside, when they are open
    
    In Sennedjem’s tomb, look for the family working in the Field of Reeds: an ideal afterlife with fertile land and abundant produce. Check whether this tomb is open before planning around it.
    
    The scenes draw on familiar agricultural work to express hopes for the afterlife. Association with a community of artists does not tell us exactly who painted each wall.
    

Look closely, photograph only where permitted, and keep hands and bags clear of ancient surfaces. Follow barriers and conservation instructions.

How to visit

## Plan your visit.

### Tickets

Published prices in Egyptian pounds per person. Online sources checked 2026-09-19.

**Foreign adult / student**: 220 / 110 EGP

**Egyptian adult / student**: 10 / 5 EGP

**Pashedu, separate ticket**

**Foreign adult / student**: 120 / 60 EGP

**Egyptian adult / student**: 10 / 5 EGP

Recheck the official seller for your visit date, concession eligibility and any additional charges. A listed ticket does not establish which interiors are open today.

Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Deir El Medina — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/DeirElMadinaTemple) [Deir El Medina — ticket categories](https://egymonuments.com/book-date/12)

### Opening hours & timing

**Daily hours**: Opens 06:00; last entry 17:00 in all seasons listed by the booking page.

**Time needed**: About 1 hour

**Best time of day**: A cooler part of the day, subject to confirmed opening hours and the forecast.

### Heat & shade

**Heat exposure**: High

**Shade**: Low

**Walking**: Moderate

**Water on site**: not verified

Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break.

### Photography

**Photography**: The official ticket page lists mobile-phone photography as free. Confirm room-specific restrictions and rules for other equipment at the site.Online sources checked 2026-09-19 · [Deir El Medina — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/DeirElMadinaTemple) [Deir El Medina — ticket categories](https://egymonuments.com/book-date/12)

### Getting there

On the west bank, in a hollow between the Ramesseum and the Valley of the Queens, reached by a short road off the main west-bank route. It is close enough to Medinet Habu and the Valley of the Queens to be done in the same run, and it is the natural stop to pair with the Valley of the Kings — the men who lived here are the men who cut those tombs.

**Typical taxi fare**: not verified

### Do you need a guide?

A guide can connect houses, written records and tombs. Independent visitors can begin with the village plan and its short history.

[Choosing a guide in Luxor](https://luxor101.com/plan/do-you-need-a-guide)

Access

## Check the access details you need.

Access depends on the whole route: surfaces, thresholds, distance, shade and facilities. We describe these separately, but have not completed an on-site access audit. Confirm the details you need before visiting.

[How we assess accessibility](https://luxor101.com/plan/accessibility)

**Ground surface**: The village street is uneven, sandy and full of low walls and thresholds; the ground is broken rather than paved

**Stairs**: The tombs are on the hill above the village and are reached by a climb and by steps; the village itself has level changes throughout

**Shade**: Expect exposed sections. Continuous shade or a seated rest area has not been verified; plan a separate break.

**Sensory conditions**: Viewing the outdoor village differs from entering a painted tomb. Ask about light, enclosure and airflow for any interior you plan to visit; current conditions are unverified.

**Claustrophobia**: Tomb interiors can be confined, with stairs or narrow passages and a return along the entry route. Conditions differ by tomb; assess the exact route before entering.

**Distance on foot**: The village paths, tomb approaches and later temple are separate parts of a visit. Ask about the route to your selected areas and any descent; no measured accessible circuit is recorded.

**Confirm before visiting:** Step-free entry · Wheelchair route · Seating · Accessible toilet · Vehicle drop-off.

Our access descriptions are planning guidance, not an on-site audit. Confirm the route and facilities you need before visiting. Photographs alone cannot establish accessibility.

After the reading

## Would a licensed guide help your visit?

We do not arrange guides or take booking fees. Our guide explains where local knowledge and historical context can add to a visit, and what to ask before hiring someone.

[Do you need a guide in Luxor?](https://luxor101.com/plan/do-you-need-a-guide)

Continue reading

## Explore the connections

1–1 / 8

[Necropolis · West bank

### Valley of the Kings

The royal burial landscape of the New Kingdom: rock-cut tombs tucked into a desert valley, separate from the kings’ major commemorative temples.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/valley-of-the-kings)[Temple · West bank

### Medinet Habu

Colour survives here wherever the roof did — on a temple built by a king fighting to hold Egypt together.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/medinet-habu)[Necropolis · West bank

### Valley of the Queens

A royal cemetery whose tombs vary greatly in decoration and access. Check which are open before deciding how it fits your day.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/valley-of-the-queens)[Temple · West bank

### The Ramesseum

Ramesses II’s mortuary temple, largely collapsed — including the colossus that put “Ozymandias” into English.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/ramesseum)[Necropolis · West bank

### Tombs of the Nobles

Private tombs across the Theban hills, where images of work, family and offerings express the status and afterlife hopes of officials and their households.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/tombs-of-the-nobles)[God

### Hathor

Goddess of love, music and the western mountain — the one who receives the dead.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/hathor)[God

### Ptah

The craftsman god of Memphis, who made the world by thinking it and saying it.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/ptah)[God

### Osiris

Ruler of the dead, associated with restoration and renewal.

](https://luxor101.com/ancient-luxor/gods/osiris)

Sources & further reading 9

Tier 1 Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — monument and site records 

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt)

Tier 1 [Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis — World Heritage List inscription and documentation](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87/) 

UNESCO World Heritage Centre

 Online source checked 2026-09-19

Tier 1 [Excavation reports from Deir el-Medina](https://www.ifao.egnet.net/journauxbruyere/index.html) 

Institut français d’archéologie orientale (IFAO)

Official page indexed · checked 2026-09-19

Tier 2 The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw 

Oxford University Press

Tier 2 Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor, Nigel and Helen Strudwick 

British Museum Press

Tier 2 The Illustrated Guide to Luxor: Tombs, Temples and Museums, Kent R. Weeks 

American University in Cairo Press

Tier 1 [Strike Papyrus, Cat. 1880 — the workers’ protest under Ramesses III](https://collezionepapiri.museoegizio.it/en-GB/document/131) 

Museo Egizio, Turin

 Online source checked 2026-09-19

Tier 1 [Deir El Medina — published visitor information](https://egymonuments.com/details/DeirElMadinaTemple) 

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — official ticket service

 Official page indexed · checked 2026-09-19

Tier 1 [Deir El Medina — ticket categories](https://egymonuments.com/book-date/12) 

Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — official ticket service

 Official page indexed · checked 2026-09-19

Source review is incomplete. Consultation dates are shown only for checked references.

These references provide the historical background for the page.

[Sources and review status](mailto:corrections@egyptmore.com?subject=Luxor101%20correction)