I co-authored an article with Joel Beinin for MERIP on the recent wave of labor strikes in the textile sector, and the prospects of political change in Egypt.
Tag: memory of the class
Comrades and Brothers
My article in MERIP on the rapprochement between the Muslim Brotherhood and the radical left is out.
Egypt under Ramses III, c1155BC: First recorded workers strike
This is one other thing they don’t teach us in history classes at school. The first recorded workers’ strike in history happened in Ancient Egypt…
A contemporary document recounting the first ever recorded labor strike, which occurred in Deir el Medina, Ancient Egypt during the reign of Ramses III when workers did not receive their rations.
The stoppage occurred in the 12th century BC, on the 21st day of the second month in the 29th year of the reign of the pharaoh Ramses III, while Ramses was fighting a series of wars and engaging in an extensive building campaign.
The strikers were hereditary craftsmen who worked on the tombs of the pharaohs, the vast complexes that to this day draw visitors from all over the world to the Valley of the Kings.
This papyrus was written by the scribe Amennakhte at Deir el Medina. It describes the workers’ struggle, and the corruption which had spread throughout the administration.