After months of overdue payments of rations the workers of Deir el-Medina have demanded to be fairly paid. These payments were due on the last day of the month but have been late from up to half a year! To show their discontent workers refused to work and left Deir el-Medina to picket outside of the walls of the mortuary temple of the Pharaoh Ramesses III, west of the village, where they complained long and bitterly. However, they were excluded from this significant spot by officials and gathered outside of the temple of Thutmose III. Their immediate supervisors said the matter had to be submitted to the Pharaoh thus the workers returned to the village, the dispute unresolved.
The next day a similar scenario played out, where the workers went to another mortuary temple to make their demand. This action terrified administrators, who distributed whatever they could find: total 50 cakes. This attempt to appease the workmen, who worked hard 4 hour shifts for 8 consecutive days, did not succeed in forcing the workmen to give up on their demands, and the following day they arrived once more at the mortuary temple. However, instead of just making noisy demonstrations outside, they entered and presented their grievances to the staff “If we arrived there, it is because of hunger, because of thirst. There is no clothing, no fish, no vegetables. Write to the Pharaoh, our goodly lord, and write to the vizier our superior, to procure us means of substance.”
Their actions appeared to have paid off for they were given rations, however this was not the end of the dispute, for they were still owed rations for the current month. The workmen continued their strike for another four days rejecting the continued half-hearted and devious tactics of the administrators, until the overseer of the Pharaoh’s troops came to them and listened to their grievances “Beginning of Year 29, written by the scribe, Neferhotep to the vizier: We are in extreme destitution. We are left lacking in every staple that comes from the granaries, that comes from the storeroom that comes from the reserves…. Year 29, month 2 of the inundation season, Day 21… Twenty days have gone by in the month without our rations been given to us.” Finally, on day 17 of winter, the delivery of rations for the second month was made. However, one month later and the workers were striking yet again: the scribe Amennakhte delivered a formal complaint about the situation to the Temple of Horemheb, part of the large administrative complex of Medinet Habu. The letter stated \'One and a half khar of grain [about 168lbs] have been taken from us ... we are dying, we cannot live...\'.
This time the angry workmen gathered in the administrative centre of the village and threatened authorities with the concept of tomb violation. The tomb-workers and artisans claimed that injustice of the highest order was being perpetrated and they wanted that situation addressed. When questioned why they decided to strike a worker answered:
“We have gone on strike from hunger and because of a serious accusation: bad things have been done in this place of Pharaoh. Injustice of the highest order has happened and we want the situation addressed!”
When questioned about the angry workers who aren’t being fairly paid, a scribe answered:
“The court now looks forward to the king’s thirty-year Grand Jubilee Festival, determined to stage a celebration honourable and worthy of such a glorious monarch. There will be no stinting, no corners cut. Only the most lavish ceremonies will do. It is a fateful decision. Beneath the pomp and circumstance, the Egyptian state had been seriously weakened by its exertions. The military losses of 1178 are still keenly felt. Foreign trade with the Near East had never fully recovered from the Sea People’s orgy of destruction. The temples’ coffers might be full of copper and myrrh, but their supplies of grain, the staple of the Egyptian economy, are gravely depleted. Against such a background, the jubilee preparations will prove a serious drain on resources.”
Instead of looking into what had gone wrong and trying to prevent it from happening again, officials dedicated themselves to preparation for the Grand Festival. A scribe named Hori finally admitted that he was unable to deliver the rations because the state granaries were empty and that he would help find a solution. The workmen received only half-measures: two sacks of emmer wheat to each of the gang as the ration of the month. There are still disputes regarding rations and unfair working conditions.