Who were the ancient Egyptian artisans?

Some of the ancient Egyptian artisans included sculptors, painters, weavers, metalworkers, jewelers, scribes, carpenters, stone workers and potters. These craftsmen were skilled and played an important role in the ancient community.

Despite their skills, these artisans had very little social status. Stone carvers were well-known through their work in creating monuments, tombs, statues and engravings among other stone works. In ancient Egypt, there were artists' villages that were built to host a special band of artisans who were responsible for building and decorating tombs. These artists were financed by the Pharaoh. Perhaps the most important job for artisans was building the tombs for pharaohs.