People of Deir Al Madina

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Since the reigns of Ramses II and his successors , there comes a wealth of evidence in the form of ostraca , papyrus , stelae and tomb inscriptions which tell the names of the workmen and their wives and children , even the houses of individual families .
At the beginning of the 19th dynasty , one of the foremen was named Kaha , son of a chief carpenter and possibly son-in-law of the preceding foreman . Kaha and his family held on the post with minor interruptions until the end of the 20th dynasty .
The other gang’s foreman was Neferhotep , when the available records began , and he held the post under Horemheb , Seti I and Ramses II .
He was succeeded by his son Nebnufer , who in turn was succeeded by his son Neferhotep the younger , who held office for the last half of the reign of Ramses II , through the reign of Merneptah , and into the reign of Seti II . The tomb of Neferhotep is by far the largest and most splendid in the workmen’s necropolis .
It was Neferhotep who adopted Paneb , mentioned earlier who was even accused of trying to kill Neferhotep .
Neferhotep was not killed by his protégé; his brother Amennakhte reported that the enemy killed Neferhotep . It is felt certain that this phrase refers to a civil war which broke out in Egypt between Pharaoh Seti II and the usurper Amenmesse , who controlled Thebes for several years .
Neferhotep seems to have been killed just before Thebes fall to the forces of Seti II . Paneb bribed the vizier of Seti II to win the succeeding appointment as foreman , but he eventually met justice , at which point foreman of the Right was filled by the family of Nekhemmut , and it remained there for most of the 20th dynasty .