The Washington times., 1919-09-14
The Newly Discovered Tomb Of Nahu. Who
Handled the First Recorded Strike, Refused
to Call Out the Nilitia, Arbitratsd with
the Pharoah, and Proudly Had His Records
Carved IN Pictures IN His Burial Chamber

bTTHE labor troubles that we have with
rs SO constantly nowadays are moth.
ing new in the history Of mankind.
Egypt was afTlicted with them thirty cen,
turies ago IN much the sane way that We
are to-day.
The ancient Egyptians seem to have had
their labor unions, their strikes, their wage
scales. their lockouts and many other exact
counterparts Of the conflict between capl-
tai and labor as we now know f. u fact,
It is quite possible that among the mumml-
fed bodies which ere slumbsring away
eternity along the banks Of the Nile are
those Of the first walking delegates and
the first "scabs' the world ever knSW as
wen as those Of the arst employers .
make : determined iBht Tor the sOpen
shop And soms day the patient
archaeologists may discover among the In
scriptons Of an old tomb or temple copy
OF the first union card issued By some
workingman's local Of 1900 years aEo TO
some toiler on the pyramids or some
laborer in PhaTaoh's vast Wlieat aelds.
This newest proof that Solomon was
everlastingIy right when he declared that
there Is nothing new under the sun" b
the result Of recent excavations ct El
Amarna, which are now described by the
Egypt Exploration Fund IN six great
volumes.
Digging in the ruins Of this long dead
city reveal not only that Egypt had labor
troubles much like our own, but that at one
time they eliminated IN what was un-
dOubtedly the most remarkable strike In
the history of the WOrkingman'e struggle
for higher wages, shorter hours and better
living conditions.
This strike resulted b an overwhelming
victory for labor. But, CuriOusly enough,
this triumph was not due b the intelli-
gence Of the labor leaders or the deter
mlnation Of the men they led, great as they
were. Labor in Egypt could not have
escaped from the abominRble slavery In
which it was held had Il not been for the
courageous support given SIS cause By the
nations Chief OF Police, an Oiicial h'iding
sppointment from Pharaoh himself
Mahu was the name Of this official and
some day union labor win erect q statue
to his memory. He was the hrBt public
man in history 10 champion the cause Of
labor against capital. And he ehampiOned
It in a vigorous, tWohstsd way that would
win him the solid labor vote II he could
return to earth and run for office in the
United States to-day.
So proud was Mahu Of what he did for
labor's cause that he had the walls Of his
tomb inscribed with a complete record of
all that took place.
When the worZingmen Of Egypt laid
down their tools and went on strike In
an effort to obtain better working and
living conditions the wealthy employers
expected Mahu 70 put q speedy end to the
rioting Of the clamorous mobs that ragged
along the Nile. E his regular force was
not sufficient to send the workers back
to their jobs with a few. broken heads,
they relied on his calling out the police
reserves and the militia.
But to their surprise Mahu did nothing
Of the kind. He would not interfere with
the violent forms Of picketing which these
ancient union forces employed to win their
non-union fellows to their side. He posi-
lively refused to allow an arrow to be
fred or a spear raised against the angry
stTikers-not even when they actually had
the boIdness to menace Pharaoh's palace.
And Mahu did even more than this.
When he saw the situation deadIOcked
with no sign Of capital yielding he went
straight to Pharaoh and pleaded the cause
Of labor as 1t had seldom, II ever, been
pleaded before. Pharaoh was so inn
pressed with the logic and eloquence dis
played by the chief that he promptly
granted all the reforms which the masses
Of the people were demanding.
Just why It was that Mahu espoused
iabOr's cause SC warmly, students Of Egyp-
tian history do not yet know. Perhaps Il
was because be had been q Workingman