Can I stay or must I go? Relations between the Deir el-Medina community and their service personnel

This paper discusses the possible origins of Deir el-Medina's smd.t, the workmen's service personnel. It focusses on the period of Ramesses III to VI, and takes the individuals Wsr-mAa.t-Ra-nxt (I) and Pn-njw.t (i/iii) as case studies: they demonstrate two possibilities as to the derivation of service members. Against the background of more general information about the service staff, the paper reveals a pattern of 'promotion' between some of the different supply jobs; it also shows the possibility that some deliverers may have originated from the families of workmen. The article gives new insights into the origins and daily life of the smd.t, as well as the social structure and age groupings of the service personnel in the mid-20th Dynasty. On the basis of its discoveries, the paper also presents some additions to the family of Pn-njw.t (i/iii). Furthermore, an additional appendix summarises the available hieratic attestations of the term ms-xr, which generally refers to the origins of a person.