Bronze Age World

Reading ancient testimony

Ask who produced the document, for whom, and for what purpose. Distinguish its ancient creation from its modern edition or translation. Survival and excavation shape what can be read today.

The museum identifies Amunnakht, scribe of the tomb, as the author of this administrative account. It records workers’ demands and official responses through a scribal perspective. It is evidence for this provisioning dispute, not proof of a universal climatic cause.

The linked museum record identifies the papyrus as Cat. 1880 and supplies context and translated excerpts. Consult that translation and its context before quoting the workers.

Document and modern access

Type: papyrus / ancient administrative text
Publication: Not specified

Open DOI or stable record (opens in a new tab)

Records informed by this source

claim Workers stopped work after delayed rations and protested that they were hungry.
Evidence confidence: high
informs · establishes
Supports the claim: Workers stopped work after delayed rations and protested that they were hungry.
date assertion Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina — date assertion
Evidence confidence: high
informs · provides primary evidence · Year 29 entries
event Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: high
informs · provides primary evidence · Year 29 entries
Source relationship recorded for Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina.
claim Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina is best dated in this release to Year 29 of Ramesses III, approximately 1159 BCE under the conventional chronology.
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports
Supports the claim: Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina is best dated in this release to Year 29 of Ramesses III, approximately 1159 BCE under the conventional chronology.
claim New Kingdom Egypt survived the early 12th-century conflicts as a state, but later evidence shows provisioning stress and contraction of control in the southern Levant.
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports
Supports the claim: New Kingdom Egypt survived the early 12th-century conflicts as a state, but later evidence shows provisioning stress and contraction of control in the southern Levant.
property assignment New Kingdom Egypt — has property — Political Survival
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports assignment
Egypt survived the crisis period as a state, although its resources, external control, and internal stability changed.
property assignment New Kingdom Egypt — has property — Transformed Polity
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports assignment
Survival involved contraction from parts of the Levant and mounting internal fiscal stress rather than unchanged continuity.
property assignment Turin Strike Papyrus — has property — Primary Textual Evidence
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports assignment
The papyrus directly records the work stoppage and provisioning complaints of royal tomb workers.
entity Turin Strike Papyrus
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports entity record
Supports the existence, description, classification, or historical context of Turin Strike Papyrus.
entity New Kingdom Egypt
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports entity record
Supports the existence, description, classification, or historical context of New Kingdom Egypt.
entity Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports entity record
Supports the existence, description, classification, or historical context of Deir el-Medina.
property Primary Textual Evidence
supports · supports property definition
Supports the definition or scholarly use of the property Primary Textual Evidence.
relationship Deir el-Medina — located in — Egypt
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
Deir el-Medina is located in or geographically associated with Egypt.
relationship Turin Strike Papyrus — located in — Egypt
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
Turin Strike Papyrus is located in or geographically associated with Egypt.
relationship Deir el-Medina — workforce settlement of — New Kingdom Egypt
Evidence confidence: very high
supports · supports relationship
Deir el-Medina housed the royal tomb workers whose strike is documented in the Turin papyrus.
relationship New Kingdom Egypt — located in — Egypt
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
New Kingdom Egypt is located in or geographically associated with Egypt.
relationship New Kingdom Egypt — participated in — Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
New Kingdom Egypt is a participant, evidential object, or directly involved entity in Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina.
relationship Turin Strike Papyrus — participated in — Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
Turin Strike Papyrus is a participant, evidential object, or directly involved entity in Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina.
relationship Turin Strike Papyrus — records — Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: very high
supports · supports relationship
Turin Strike Papyrus is a primary textual source for Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina.
relationship Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina — occurred in — Deir el-Medina
Evidence confidence: high
supports · supports relationship
Royal Tomb Workers’ Strike at Deir el-Medina is geographically assigned to Deir el-Medina.