Script to deploy web site files? ssh or rsync?

Does anyone know of a web deployment script that will remotely publish files using a file list, that includes permissions and ownership info? I'm trying to avoid reinventing the wheel (and testing it!).

I suspect the script would be a flat file; each line would include the file path, ownership and permissions. The script would invoke ssh or rsync to deploy the website to the remote server.

I have my web site stored locally in a Git repo and want to automate deployment of it.

Perhaps a file would be created like:

./public_html type-f-or-d owner permissions
./public_html/index.html type-f-or-d owner permissions

and a script would parse this, making appropriate ssh commands to the remote server.

I suspect a simple shell script is required, however I'm trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel (test cases, etc).

Thanks!