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?