The Oregon daily journal., September 21, 1919, Page 67, Image 67

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Tke Newly Discovered Tomb of MakujWto
Handled tke First Recorded Strike, Refused
to Call Out tke Militia, Arbitrated witk
tke Pkaroak, and Proudly Had iHis Records
Carved in Pictures in His Burial Ckamker
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HE labor troubles that we have with
us so constantly nowadays are noth
ing new in the history of mankind.
Egypt was afflicted with them, thirty cen
turies ago in much the same 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 capi
tal and labor as we now know It. In fact,
It is quite possible that among the mummi
fied bodies which are slumbering away
ter&ity along the banks of the Nile are
those of the first walking delegates and
the first "scabs" the world eyer knjw as
well as those of the first employers to
make a determined fight for the "open
shop." And some day the patient
archaeologists may discover among the in
scriptions of an old tomb or temple a copy
of the first union card Issued by eome
worklngman's local of 3,000 years ago to
some toiler on the pyramids or some
laborer in Pharaoh's Tast wheat fields.
This newest proof that Solomon was
everlastingly right when he declared that
"there Is nothing new under the sun" Is
the result of recent excavations at El
A mama, which are now1 described by the
Egypt Exploration Fund In six great
volumes.
Digging In the ruins of this long dead
City reveal not only tnat Egypt had labor
troubles much like our own, but that "at one
time they culminated In what was un
doubtedly the most remarkable strike in
the history of the worklngman's struggle
for higher -wages, shorter hours and Letter
living conditions.
This strike resulted In an overwhelming
victory for labor. But, curiously enough,
this triumph was not due to the intelli
gence of the labor leaders or the deter
mination of the men they led, great as they
were. Labor in Egypt' could not have
escaped from the abominable slavery In
which it was held had It not been for the
courageous support given its cause by the
nation's Chief of Police, an official balding
appointment from Pharaoh himself.
Mahu was the name of this official and
some day union labor will erect;, a statue
!to his memory. He was the first public
man in history to champion the cause of
labor against capital. And he championed
It in a vigorous, two-fisted way that would
win him the solid labor vote if he could
return to earth and run for office in the
United States tofday.
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 workingmen of Egypt laid
down their tools and went on strike in
an effort to obtain better working and
living conditions the wealthy employer?
expected Mahu to put a speedy end to tie
rioting of the clamorous mobs that raged
along the Kile. If his regular force was
not sufficient to send the workers back
to their Jobs with a few broken heads,
they relied on tils 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
tively refused to allow an arrow to be
fired or a spear raised against the angry
strikers not even when they actually had
the boldness to menace Pharaoh's palace.
And Mahu did even more than this.
When he saw the situation deadlocked
with no sign of capital yielding he went
straight to Pharaoh and pleaded the cause
of labor as It bad seldom. If ever, been
pleaded before. Pharaoh was so Impressed-
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
labor's cause so warmly, students of Egyp
tian history do not yet know. Perhaps It
was because he had been a worklngman
himself before he joined the police force
and could not forget the hard conditions
under which he had to live. At any rate,
he could have hardly proved himself a
better friend of labor if he had held a
dozen union cards.
Was there ever another strike like this,
either before or
since? Certainly it
has no parallel in
modern times. A man
In Mahu's position
was one whom the
common people of
that day might well
have counted among
their bitterest ene
mies. For him to
plead the cause of
labor as he did was
as surprising as it
would be for John D.
Rockefeller to Join
hands with Samuel
Gompers in securing
an eight - hour day
and a closed shop in
every industry.
The conditions in
Egypt which led up
to this amazing
strike were so terri
ble that modern
minds &n hardly
comprehend them.
For generations the
priests and the Pha
roahs had kept the
masses in abject
slavery. Tho serfs
of Russia, down
trodden as t H e y
were, were Infinitely
better off than the
unhappy people of
ancient Egypt. They
could not call their
souls their own, and
not only that they
were not even per
mitted to know that
they had souls.
All the wonderful
learning of the time
was jealously guard
ed by the priests for
the Bole profit and
edification of the no
bility and moneyed
classes. The great
masses of the people
were supposed to ex
ist solely for the pur
pose of performing
the most arduous
labor, fighting when
ever a war was de
clared, and starving
and suffering i n
other ways at all
times.
It was impossible
for such conditions
to last forever. They
soon became so in
tolerable that there
began to spring up
throughout Egypt
men who had the
wisdom to foresee the end toward which
economic conditions were inevitably tend
ing and who had the courage to proclaim
to the people what they foresaw. These
men, who stirred the people by what they
foretold at the risk of their lives, corre
sponded to the prophets of Palestine. In
our own day theytwould be called radicals
or progressives by their friends and dan
gerous agitators by their enemies.
One of the most notable of these prophets
was Apoui, who lived some fifteen centuries
before the Christian era. He served the
Egyptian people in much the same way that
Jeremiah served the Jews in the time of
their oppression ot the poor and forgetful
ness of God.
An old papyrus containing some of his
prophesies has been unearthed from the
sands of Egypt, and reading it one cannot
wonder that the people were aroused by
what he had to say. It Is filled with the
direst forebodings of evil days to come.
Apoui predicted that society would be one
day overturned, thai, tie- aaUoa. soaiLkita
brought to the point of despair, that even
family ties would be In danger.
Here Is a translation of one of his proph
esies recently made by learned Egyptolo
gists: "The fields will be no longer cultivated.
Each man will say: 'What is the use of it?
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Tie Building of the Pyramids the Painting by'Richter.
la the Erection of These Colossal Structures Vast Hordes of Men Were Used and Labor Troubles Were Frequent
The Biblical Incident of Moses and the Egyptian Taskmaster Was in Reality a Strike Against Tyranny.
Mi
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And everything came true Just as Apoui
had foretold. In the ruins of El Amarna
there have been found records of the great
uprising of the labor classes which was
surprisingly turned into a complete victory
through the aid of Mahu, the Egyptian
chief of police. The great "Shepherd of
all men who ha3 no evil in his heart" was
the pacifist Pharoah, Iknaton, under whom
Mahu served and who Inaugurated the
reforms which the latter urged with such
eloquence and force. It was he who set
aside the ancient gods with all the abuses
perpetrated in their name and established
Mahu, the Chief of Police, Receiving the Labor Dele-gation--Anothear
of the Incidents Portrayed in His
Tomb. Above Is a Portrait of the Ancient Chief of
Police That Decorated the Wall Above His Sarcophagus
Do we not know what Is going to happen to
our land?'
"People of lowly rank will become the
possessors of all the valuables, so that he
who lacked the wherewithal to procure him
self a pair or sandals will be the owner, of
granaries full of grain.
"Terrible epidemics will break out, which
will attack all classes alike. The plague
will lay hold. There will be bloodshed
everywhere.
"The rich will lament, the poor will re
joice, and aH the cities will say: 'Let us
drive out the powerful from among us."
The exoulsion will not take place without
resistance, and civil war will desolate."
This inspired man saw much more of the
fate of the wealthy, predicting the time
when the poor would "hang gold, lapls
lazuli, carnelian, malachite round the necks
of their own wives, while princesses will
be thrown into the streets and nobly born
women will exclaim: 'If only we had some
thing to eat!'"
And after all the horrors the prophet pro-,
Q Julia, JateoiaUoiULl Feature Serrtce, loo.
III!
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Another Scene. from the Strike, Showing Protesting: Laborers,
Whom Mahu Refused to Disperse by Means of His
Soldiers, Outside the Palace Walls.
claims the coming of a ruler who "is the
shepherd of all men, who has no evil in his
heart, and when his flock goes astray
spends the day in seeking it."
Great Britain Eights Beserred.
the worship of the Sun Disk as the reflec
tion of the glory of the One God.
The tomb of Mahu, the best chief of
police Egypt's capital city ever had, is by
i
far the most interesting thing laid bare
in the famous ruin mound of El Amarna.
Its pictorial records give a fascinating
glimpse of the stirring life the sturdy old
chief led and his manv notable achieve
ments. One picture shows Mahu receiving dele
gations of striking workmen" who are
handing him copies of their demands.
Another shows him conferring with strike
breakers who by continuing to work are
endangering their fellows' brave fight for
freedom.
In still another, picture we see Mahu with
the warriors of his force ranged behind
him. He is lifting his hands In salutation
and saying: "Thou makest great by thy
troops; thou, the ruler of Aten, thou shsfw
live forever."
In bis interest in labor's cause Mahu
never forgot his loyalty to Egypt. While
willing to encourage the native Egyptians
in striking for their rights, he was most
stern in repressing any efforts on the part
of aliens to stir up revolution.
One of the most remarkable pictures in
hl3 burial place shows him bringing three
handcuffed foreigners before the king.
Pharaoh praises him for his vigilance, ex
claiming: "As Aten (the Sun) endurethl
As the Ruler endureth!"
Some scholars maintain that Mahu was
not such an unselfish champion of labor,
but was forced into that position by cir
cumstances entirely beyond his control.
He knew perfectly well, they say, that
the soldiers under him, being serfs them
selves, would not attack their own people.
There seems-, however, much stronger
evidence to show that Mahu was a man
far enough ahead ot his times to sympa
thize thoroughly with the aspirations ot
the working classes for better living con
ditions. Iknaton, the Pharoah whom Mahu"
served, was one ot the wisest and most
aeneflcent rulers Egypt ever had. And It
Is certain that he. was greatly aided in
putting his reforms into effect by having
bad for chief of police in his capital city
a man so courageous, intelligent an4
humane as Mahu.