Deir el Medina is an ancient Egyptian workers' village where the artists, craftsmen and laborers who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th to 20th dynasties of the New Kingdom (about 1550-1080 BC) lived. The site is located on the west bank of the Nile, below the Valley of the Kings.

The first datable remains of the village date back to the reign of Thutmose I (about 1506-1493 BC) and the settlement took its final form in the Ramesside period. In its heyday, the community comprised around 68 houses spread over a total area of around 5,600 m², with a narrow road running through the village. The size of the dwellings varied, with an average floor area of 70 m², but the same construction methods were used throughout the village. The walls were made of mud bricks built on a stone foundation. The clay was applied to the walls, which were then painted white on the outside. The houses consisted of four to five rooms, comprising an entrance, a main room, two smaller rooms, a kitchen with a cellar and a staircase leading to the roof. The main room contained a platform made of mud bricks with steps, which possibly served as a shrine or birthing bed. Almost all the houses contained niches for statues and small altars.

The tombs built by the community for their own use include small chapels and substructures carved into the rock and decorated with small pyramids. Of particular note in this context are the beautiful tombs of Inherkau, a leading official in the construction of the ancient Egyptian royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and Sennedjem, an ancient Egyptian artist and master builder in the 19th dynasty.