The First-Ever Labor Strike in History
Seeing the workers’ demand wages that they worked for was an abomination for the pharaoh
Like most civilizations, both past and present, there have been countless disagreements between parties as opinions and perspectives have always differed.
The most important cultural aspect of ancient Egypt due to their developed and high standard of living was harmony; known as Ma’at. Ma’at was the concept of universal, communal, and personal balance which permitted the flow of peace for the kingdoms to function as it should according to the will of the Egyptian gods.
The king’s primary objective was to be the custodian of Ma’at and maintain balance and equality among the people. Consequently, he needed to make sure that the people were well respected and cared for regardless of their role in the kingdom — servants, farmers, rulers including slaves must be in good care.
Ordinarily, in a place where lots of people with different ways of thinking reside together, there are bound to be conflicts. At some point the king found it challenging to maintain this cultural heritage due to lack of resources to go around and waves of pressing issues.
The very first strike recorded in history started in 1152 BC, on 14 November. This was during…
