The Workers’ Village, Luxor

Luxor is known best for its array of enormous temples and the valleys which house the tombs of the kings. Their construction was only possible because of skilled artisans and craftsman who worked tirelessly at the behest of their kings. They lived near the sites on which they worked, and in Luxor their village survives to this day. There is not, of course, the same extravagance in the remains as there was in the temples, but there are dashes of artistry in this quiet site that make it fascinating. For all the monuments of ancient Egypt that we have today, the workers’ village is an intriguing rarity as the reliefs on the walls depict issues of daily life rather than the stories of kings and the afterlife.