The Deir el-Medina strikes were a series of strikes by the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, the most notable of which occurred in the 29th year of the reign of Ramesses III (circa 1158 BC).[1][2] The primary cause of the strike was Ramesses' inability to provide supplies, including wheat rations, to the workers and their families, and workers were forced to buy their own wheat. The workers pleaded with the site officials, who ignored their complaints. The workers then went on strike and marched en masse to the office of the vizier, who authorised the release of grain from the funerary temples, and the workers returned to work temporarily.
The initial Deir el-Medina strike is considered the earliest recorded collective labour action. Labour problems continued in the 20th Dynasty due to price increases for grain.
- ^ Edwards, I. E. S.; Gadd, C. J.; Hammond, N. G. L.; Sollberger, E., eds. (1975). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 2 (3 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 246. doi:10.1017/chol9780521086912. ISBN 978-0-521-08691-2.
- ^ Antoine, Jean-Christophe (2009). "The Delay of the Grain Ration and its Social Consequences at Deir El-Medîna in the Twentieth Dynasty: A Statistical Analysis". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 95 (1): 223–234. doi:10.1177/030751330909500113. ISSN 0307-5133. S2CID 192313334.