The arrival of group of Lybian raiders had already forced Ramesses III to transfer the workmen of Deir el-Medina to Medinet Habu, and perhaps because of them, the work in the royal tombs was often suspended. This extract of the Journal of the Necropolis, in addition to the registration of the interruption of work, explicitly mentions the arrival of a Lybian tribe, the Meshwesh.
Year 8, secondo month of the season of the Inundation, day 3: Work. A letter was sent to the Vizier, along with the Scribe of the Maat, saying: “Provide grain-ration and copper, and the supplies for the Tomb”, by the hand of the two porters, who returned when they had brought the letter of the Vizier and of the Scribe of Maat, saying: “The Meshwesh are coming to the City!”
