The heavy cost of these battles slowly exhausted Egypt 's treasury and contributed to the gradual decline of the Egyptian Empire in Asia . The severity of these difficulties is stressed by the fact that the first known labour strike in recorded history occurred during Year 29 of Ramesses III 's reign , when the food rations for the favoured and elite royal tomb-builders and artisans in the village of '' Set Maat her imenty Waset '' ( now known as Deir el-Medina ) , could not be provisioned . Something in the air ( possibly the Hekla 3 eruption ) prevented much sunlight from reaching the ground and also arrested global tree growth for almost two full decades until 1140 BC . The result in Egypt was a substantial increase in grain prices under the later reigns of Ramesses VI – VII , whereas the prices for fowl and slaves remained constant . Thus the cooldown affected Ramesses III 's final years and impaired his ability to provide a constant supply of grain rations to the workmen of the Deir el-Medina community
Hekla 3 eruption
Hekla 3 eruption
Ramesses III