Innovation No. 70 of 77 in the book
The Labor Strike
Workers stopped work to demand fair treatment
- When
- c. 1159 BCE
- Dynasty
- 20th Dynasty
- Era
- New Kingdom
The first recorded strike in history happened in Egypt in 1159 BCE, when the workers building the royal tombs downed tools over late pay.
The craftsmen of Deir el-Medina were owed their rations of grain — their wages — and the deliveries hadn’t come. So they stopped work, sat down at the temples, and refused to move until they were paid.
A scribe logged it day by day. The workers organized, made demands, and won their back-pay. It is collective bargaining, 3,000 years early.
The labor strike was invented by Egyptian workers who’d had enough.
The events are recorded on the Turin Strike Papyrus, written in hieratic by the royal scribe Amennakhte, an eyewitness, and now in the Museo Egizio in Turin. It dates to year 29 of Ramesses III, around 1159 BCE, and logs the strike day by day — dates, the names of leaders, where they gathered, and the negotiating sessions with officials. Mesopotamian and Greek texts record slave revolts and mutinies; this is free salaried workers organising over unpaid wages.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did the strikers make their case?
Carefully. Amennakhte records that they damaged no temples and stole no grain. They framed the protest as an appeal to Ma'at, arguing that the officials withholding their food were the ones breaking the order of things.
Did it work?
Yes. The back-payments were made. The workers organised, stated demands, negotiated, and were paid — which is why the papyrus reads as collective bargaining rather than a riot.