The Worker’s Village which was at it height during the Ramesside Period, lies in a Valley between the small hill of Qurnat Murai and the western slopes of the Theban Hills.  The tombs of the Deir el Medina are situated on a slope in very close proximity to the houses of the workers for whom they were made.

Many of the tombs follow the same pattern of a courtyard leading to a chapel which was topped with the shape of a pyramid.  The tomb itself was not inside the pyramid but was reached either through steep stairs leading from the courtyard from inside the chapel.  Ancestor worship seems to have taken place here as the all the chapels appear to have held an image of the deceased.

The workers of the village spent their lives working on the tombs of the Pharaohs but in their own time worked on wonderfully decorated tombs for themselves.  Several of the tombs have been excavated but only three are open to the public, the tombs of Sennedjem, Inherkau and Pashedu. The first two tombs are viewable on the same entrance ticket that enables you to see the Temple of Hathor, but the tomb of Pashedu requires an extra ticket at a cost of 25 le.