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History's First Recorded Strike Was Over Late Grain #Shorts

Nov 5, 2026

Pack: 60 - History's First Recorded Strike Was Over Late Grain

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The earliest recorded labour strike was in ancient Egypt: the men who built the pharaohs' tombs stopped work when their grain rations were late, and they won. ▶ Full documentary on our channel: https://youtu.be/WYrRb3q1h50

• The craftsmen who cut and decorated the royal tombs lived in the village of Deir el-Medina, near the Valley of the Kings, and were paid in grain (Museo Egizio).
• In Year 29 of Ramesses III, their rations were suspended. They passed the guard post shouting "We are hungry!" and sat down behind the royal temples (Museo Egizio, Turin Strike Papyrus).
• The scribe Amunnakht recorded it all on what is now called the Turin Strike Papyrus, Cat. 1880 (Museo Egizio; Guinness World Records).
• The grain they were owed was paid. Days later, they struck again (Museo Egizio).

Would you have walked out with them? Tell us in the comments. Full story in our documentary, The Full History of Egypt. 🔔 Subscribe for a new forgotten story every day: https://www.youtube.com/@Shadowfetchtube?sub_confirmation=1

Sources

• Museo Egizio, Highlights: Turin Strike Papyrus
• Guinness World Records, First recorded strike
• W. F. Edgerton, The Strikes in Ramses III's Twenty-Ninth Year, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 10 (1951)

Images

• The Strike Papyrus written by Amunnakht, Cat. 1880 — Museo Egizio, Turin — CC0 —
• The Strike Papyrus, Cat. 1880 (second scan) — Museo Egizio, Turin — CC0 —
• Temple of Hathor at Deir el-Medina (Ptolemaic) — Olaf Tausch — CC BY 3.0 —
• Sennedjem and Iineferti in the Fields of Iaru, facsimile, 1922 — Charles K. Wilkinson, The Met — CC0 —
• Fragments of the Great Colossi at the Ramesseum, 1846–49 — David Roberts, Cleveland Museum of Art — CC0 —
• Model of a granary with scribes, c. 1981–1975 BCE — The Met — CC0 —

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