Little is known of the everyday lives of ordinary people in ancient Egypt, but excavations at the village of Deir el-Medina have provided a unique opportunity to reconstruct the daily life of one particular group—the workmen who built the tombs of the pharaohs in the nearby Valley of the Kings.

The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs brings to life the people who lived and died at Deir el-Medina over three thousand years ago: their loves and hates, disputes and scandals, work and leisure. The author carried out extensive research on the tomb-builders and draws on the thousands of documents, letters, literary texts, and drawings found at Deir el-Medina to give a fascinating and intimate glimpse of life in the village.