Ramesses III (Usermaatre Meryamun)
1184 BCE–1153 BCE · New-Kingdom · Thebes
Ramesses III (throne-name Usermaatre Meryamun) was the last great warrior-pharaoh of Egypt, reigning in Dynasty 20 around 1184-1153 BCE (Shaw's conventional dates). He repelled a series of major invasions by Libyans and by the Sea Peoples, whose great land and sea battles he recorded in detail in the reliefs of his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, the single most important source for these upheavals. His reign also saw the first recorded labour strike in history, when the tomb-workmen of Deir el-Medina downed tools over delayed rations, and a serious assassination plot against him, the 'Harem Conspiracy', whose trial is documented in the Judicial Papyrus of Turin; modern examination of his mummy indicates his throat was cut. His reign holds the line of Egyptian power before the long decline of the later New Kingdom.
Did you know?
The first recorded strike in history was over late paychecks
Around 1157 BCE, under Ramesses III, the skilled artisans who built the royal tombs at Deir el-Medina downed tools when their grain rations arrived late, staging sit-ins and marching to the temples crying “we are hungry.” A scribe recorded the whole episode on what is now called the Turin Strike Papyrus — the earliest documented labor strike in human history.
How we know
The Deir el-Medina strike dates to Year 29 of Ramesses III (r. c.1184–1153 BCE), c.1157 BCE, recorded by the scribe Amennakhte on the Turin Strike Papyrus (Museo Egizio, Cat. 1880); it is recognized as the first recorded strike. c.1157 BCE ≈ 3,180 years ago.
The first recorded strike in history
History's earliest documented labor strike happened in ancient Egypt. Around 1157 BCE, when their grain rations came weeks late, the tomb-builders of Deir el-Medina downed tools, walked off the royal necropolis and staged a sit-in, chanting that they were hungry. A scribe recorded the whole dispute on a papyrus now held in Turin.
How we know
Turin Strike Papyrus (Museo Egizio): artisans of Deir el-Medina struck over unpaid rations in year 29 of Ramesses III, c. 1157 BCE -> earliest documented labor strike (Guinness World Records).
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