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The world's first strike

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William Crawley | 10:31 UK time, Monday, 23 November 2009

giza-pyramid-of-cheops-egy109.jpgOn this day:

The world's first recorded strike took place, when laborers working on a pyramid in Egypt downed tools .

There is no evidence of a trade union's involvement.

Update: tells me this historic strike coincides with the CBI's annual conference!

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Will, you know I hate to be picky(!), but this was in the reign of Rameses III, last of the Great Pharaohs, 20th Dynasty c.1186-1155BCE, New Kingdom. Pharaohs in this era were buried in rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings, not pyramids. The strike in question was when the workers from Deir el-Medina (the Place of Truth) downed tools and refused to work on the royal tomb until they had received their wages and supplies. It's widely seen as evidence that the concepts of Pharaonic kingship were starting to slide.

    Just a minor correction :-)

  • Comment number 2.

    Just asking this here as it's an almost empty thread. You remember all those discussions about the wonders of peer review and climate change theory.

    Anyone care to comment on the revelations of the Climategate hacking which show how peer review really operates.

  • Comment number 3.

    Chris, this thread (!) is all about journalistic accuracy - I mean, is it not absolutely *heinous* that a pharaonic rock-cut tomb in the Valley of the Kings should be confused with a pyramid, the preferred model for the epicentre of the mortuary complexes of the pharaohs a millennium before?

    Ancient Egypt has endured enough of this mindless stereotyping.

  • Comment number 4.

    Helio - I agree totally. Journalists are lazy bleepers who never investigate properly and take most of their news from wikipedia

  • Comment number 5.

    Except Will of course. He's normally very thorough - I'll let him away with this "pyramid" gaffe ;-)

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