Seasons Greetings and all the best for 2026

Gordon Anderson

23 Dec 2025 — 1 min read

Posting will be a bit lighter than usual for the next month or so.

However as an end of year bit of cheer and possible interest if you didn't know already - the first recorded strike in history took place in Egypt some 3,200 years ago!

The event is recorded in a surviving scroll, known as the Turin Strike Papyrus, which records the words of a scribe called Amennakhte who recorded events in the legendary Valley of the Kings. The ‘Strike Papyrus’ records that tomb workers of King Ramesses III downed tools over pay and conditions circa 1157 BCE.

The strike began the artisans (Egyptian tradies) of the Royal Necropolis at Deir el-Medina organized an uprising in response to late wage rations. Overall, the documented events covered a period of about three months and may have dragged on for a couple more years. One comment notes that "Rameses III probably never knew about the strike that nearly derailed his Jubilee, as the local officials would have feared for their heads in the event of him finding out" which probably explains that.

This article gives a bit more detail and also see this. And if you want to read the papyrus go here.

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Holidays - some thoughts

Some thoughts on workplace safety

Uber Drivers are Employees - at least for the moment

Poverty – not an insoluble problem