Outline the role and importance of religion for the workers in Deir el-Medina. 1000 words minimum.

Within the society, Dier el-Medina, religion played a vital role for the workers. In many aspects religion was their ‘boss’ as they respected their religion immensely and many of their moral and social rules were obtained for religion. Religion also played a critical role on how women acted and were treated by the workers and their families. Religion has also created Dier el-Medina culturally, as it combined numerous spiritual and physical aspects of this society based around religion to create this eccentric sophisticated society.

The workers within Dier el-Medina were very sophisticated men, as they were often referred to as …show more content…

The highest ranking position of women in Dier el-Medina were the women who held some aspect of religious power such as chantress’s and singers with official positions within local shrines or temples, perhaps even within the major temples of Thebes. These women were looked up to as ‘leaders’ by other women, as they had the closest connection with the gods. The second highest class were the mothers and/or wives. The idea of a perfect wife, surrounded the ideas of pregnancy, housework, children and loyalty/marriage, these ideas were developed from ancient relgious texts that stated what a mother should be, they also stated how women should be treated and respected. The quote “Happiness is when your hand is together with hers” provides evidence on how women were expected to be treated. Religion somewhat skips the next class of women, which are the servants. It is unknown whether the guidelines for respecting a mother were carried out to servants, but initially it seems likely. The ‘stray’ or un-married women were treated with relatively no respect from anyone, as their work was normally as prostitutes or entertainers (strippers), the people of Deir el-Medina thought that by accepting these women they were sinning against the gods, because this class of women wasn’t considered ‘pure’. Women were also heavy believers in gods and goddesses,