Thousands of ostraca, limestone flakes and potsherds covered with writing and drawings, were found at Deir el-Medina. They record work rosters, loans, letters, laundry lists, school exercises, hymns and literary texts, as well as sketches that range from practice drawings for tomb decoration to humorous scenes.
Deir el-Medina was the village of the craftsmen who cut and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and much of the Museo Egizio's collection comes from its houses, chapels and tombs.
