Jurisdiction in the Workmen’s Community of Deir el-Medina

One of the best known villages of antiquity, the artisan’s community of

Deir el-Medina on the west bank of Thebes which had its floruit in the

Ramesside period, has also yielded a wealth of information on the social

and juridical systems. A great number of ostraca, papyri and

inscriptions form the base on which the main outlines of the system of

administering law can be reconstructed. This richly documented monograph

tries to find answers to problems like: who were the members of the

village council (the knb.t)? Which cases did it deal with by

itself and which were rather put before the village oracle? And,

finally, what juridical cases occupied the minds of the villagers which

fell out of the scope of these two main means to regulate the social

life of community?