Chapter 3
Building a Civilisation with Military Might
In This Chapter
Sequencing the kings and their achievements
Following the rise and fall of dynasties
Training with the military
Recording victories
In order to summarise more than 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, a chronology of rulers and events is necessary. One seemingly sensible place to look for this sequence is in Egyptian records of kings and their achievements.
Unfortunately, these lists were created to connect the king to previous rulers and therefore are selective, only listing the ‘good’ kings. Anyone who upset the equilibrium, was disliked, or ruled a divided Egypt was omitted from the lists. Also, the Egyptians did not have a centralised calendar. The dates chronicled on king lists are based on the years of rule of the current king (for example, year 12 of Ramses II). This is accurate unless you have no idea how long the king ruled for and when he ruled.
This chapter follows the ups and downs of centuries of Egyptian rule and change, breaking the course of civilisation into handy periods and eras. It also explores the development of a permanent Egyptian army, which had an enormous impact on the later history of ancient Egypt.
Tracing the Course of Egyptian Civilisation
Based on king lists and other historical documents and artefacts, historians organise ancient Egyptian history into the following major periods:
Pre-dynastic period
Early dynastic period, or archaic period
Old Kingdom
First intermediate period
Middle Kingdom
Second intermediate period
New Kingdom
Third intermediate period
Late period
Graeco-Roman period
The following sections cover Egyptian history from the pre-dynastic period through to the second intermediate period. Chapter 4 explores the New Kingdom, one of Ancient Egypt’s most dynamic eras. Check the Cheat Sheet timeline so see how the periods all slot together.
Pre-dynastic period
The pre-dynastic period dates from approximately 5500 BC to 3100 BC and ends with the unification of Egypt.
During this period, Egypt was divided into two very distinct cultures: one in Upper Egypt and the other in Lower Egypt. Archaeologically speaking, cemetery sites are located primarily in Upper Egypt and settlement sites in Lower Egypt.
Comparing and contrasting Upper and Lower Egypt
For many years, archaeologists thought that the cultures of Upper and Lower Egypt were completely separate from the later Egyptian culture. Flinders Petrie (see Chapter 19) even suggested that the pre-dynastic cultures were completely foreign cultures created by an Asiatic invasion. More recent research now shows a slow progression from these contrasting cultural elements to the better-known Egyptian civilisation.
Smiting scenes, or images in which the king is depicted hitting his enemy. The earliest known example comes from tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis and is dated to 3500–3200 BC.
Images of a cattle cult, which eventually developed into the cult of the goddess Hathor (see Chapter 9).
The red crown of Lower Egypt, which symbolised royal power in this region. The earliest image of the red crown of Lower Egypt is dated to approximately 3500 BC from a potsherd currently in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Existing king lists
Most of the existing king lists are recorded in religious or funerary contexts (although few of these lists are located in tombs and temples). Most of the lists are simply a list of royal names written in cartouches on monumental stone blocks or temple walls. The kings who commissioned them were trying to show that their lineage was an ancient one. The known king lists include:
Royal List of Thutmosis III from Karnak, now in the Louvre in Paris
Royal List of Sety I at Abydos
Abydos King List of Ramses II, now in the British Museum in London
Saqqara Tablet from the tomb of Tenroy, which lists 57 rulers
Turin Royal Canon from the 19th dynasty
The Palermo Stone from the fifth dynasty
Graffiti from the quarries in the Wadi Hammamat, which include very short lists
Egyptologists use king lists in combination with each other, other historical records, and archaeological evidence because the lists aren’t reliable on their own – they omit disliked rulers, portions of the text are damaged, or the lists only go up to a certain period.
Uniting the land of Egypt
The Egyptian civilisation as it is known today started during the reign of King Narmer (dynasty 0) in approximately 3100 BC. At the start of King Narmer’s reign, Egypt was divided into locally governed regions, but at some point Narmer was instrumental in unifying these regions to be governed by one man – himself.
Historians are uncertain whether this unification of Egypt was achieved by a number of small battles or one major battle, although the former is more likely.
The unification is recorded on the Narmer Palette, a ceremonial slate palette found at Hierakonpolis and now in the Cairo Museum. The palette includes the earliest battle scene from ancient Egypt as well as a number of images that continued to be used for the next 3,000 years, including
The king hitting an enemy over the head with a mace
The king wearing the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt
The king as a bull trampling on captured enemies
Early dynastic period
The earliest evidence of writing comes from this period in the form of
Stone stelae (stone slabs with a curved top used in monumental inscriptions)
Wooden and ivory labels (probably attached to grave goods in tombs)
Pottery jars
Clay cylinder seals (used to seal boxes, doors, and possibly accounts or correspondence)
By the end of the early dynastic period, the state was fully formed, and the kings had begun to build large subterranean tombs (see Chapter 13) with elaborate and expensive funerary goods to show the wealth they had amassed.
Old Kingdom
The Old Kingdom (2686–2333 BC) was primarily a time of royal affluence and economic strength and included the third to the sixth dynasties. The period is best known for pyramid building, which peaked during this period.
The first stone building and the first pyramid to be built was the third dynasty Step Pyramid at Saqqara (see Chapter 13 for details). King Djoser built this structure as an extension to a traditional tomb and stepped monument. The evolution of pyramids continued throughout the Old Kingdom until the culmination of the structure, the Great Pyramid of King Khufu at Giza, constructed between 2589 and 2566 BC. (For further pyramid facts, skip to Chapter 14.)
Towards the end of the Old Kingdom (the fifth dynasty), the Pyramid Texts were introduced. These provided some of the earliest information about the funerary beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. These texts, coupled with the biographical texts in the tombs, give historians loads of information about the bureaucracy and officialdom of the Old Kingdom.
The sixth dynasty saw a change in the economy of Egypt, with the nobility becoming increasingly more powerful and eventually growing richer than the kings. This wealth and power disparity is reflected in tombs of sixth dynasty royals and nobles; the nobles’ tombs are far more elaborate. Ironically, this power swap may have been due to one too many tax exemptions granted by the king to his favoured courtiers.
The collapse of the Old Kingdom was due to a number of factors, of which the most important were a series of floods resulting in small harvest yields, famine, and eventually disease.
First intermediate period
The first intermediate period (2180–2140 BC) was a time of political unrest following the end of the Old Kingdom.
Introducing the wheel
Strangely, the Egyptians didn’t really use the wheel for transportation until the New Kingdom and the introduction of the chariot. However, this is not to say that they didn’t have wheels. Wheeled vehicles and carts simply weren’t particularly practical forms of transportation on agricultural or desert terrain. Instead, the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom used donkeys, oxen, and boats as means of getting about.
The earliest representation of the wheel in use comes from the Old Kingdom, in the tomb of Kaemhesit at Saqqara. The image shows a scaling ladder being pushed up against a wall. The ladder has very distinct solid wooden wheels to manoeuvre it into place. The soldiers climbing the ladder are using axes to help pull themselves further up the wall. Other soldiers are blocking the wheels with a lump of wood to prevent the ladder moving and injuring those climbing up.
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The wealthy are in mourning. The poor man is full of joy. Every town says: let us suppress the powerful among us. The door-keepers say, ‘Let us go out and plunder.’ A man looks upon his son as his enemy. The wrongdoer is everywhere . . . the plunderer is everywhere. The robber is a possessor of riches, the rich man is become a plunderer. The bird-catchers have drawn up in line of battle and the farmers go out to plough with his shield.
This text paints a picture of a horrible environment in which to live – one in which anarchy reigned and people were in constant fear for their lives. The first intermediate period seems to be proof of the saying that any civilisation is only three meals away from anarchy.
The administration of Egypt became divided again, with the eighth dynasty ruling in the Memphite region, although its power was limited to the local area. Petty chieftains who had gained control of local towns and provinces ruled the rest of Egypt.
At the collapse of the eighth dynasty, the ninth dynasty took control of Herakleopolis. This dynasty might have controlled the whole of Egypt for a short while at least, although its hold did not last long. The tenth dynasty saw a divide in Egypt again, with the dynasty ruling from the Herakleopolis area, and the trend continued with the 11th dynasty ruling from Thebes.
Losing oneself in the labyrinth
In the Faiyum, a pyramid complex built by Amenemhat III (12th dynasty) has a reputation for containing a labyrinth. Herodotus visited the site, called Hawara, and recorded that the labyrinth had a total of 3,000 rooms connected by winding passages. Based on Herodotus’s description, the site of Hawara became a major tourist attraction for the Romans and Greeks visiting Egypt.
The complex was in fact relatively straightforward by Egyptian standards, with a pyramid in the north and the mortuary temple (the labyrinth) to the south. Sadly, very little remains of the mortuary temple, but enough exists to show that it was a substantial building. The mortuary temple was probably similar to the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, with a number of chambers, shrines, and pillared courts.
However, the temple probably consisted of far fewer rooms than Herodotus mentions; he may have been confused by numerous subterranean tomb chambers in the area. You can’t blame poor old Herodotus for getting confused over the differences between an elaborate mortuary complex and a Greek-style labyrinth.
Middle Kingdom
The 11th dynasty eventually managed to take control of all of Egypt, reuniting it and starting the period called the Middle Kingdom. The unification took place during the reign of the fourth king, Mentuhotep I (2125–2055 BC).
During the 11th dynasty, the local governors increased in strength, and although the country was now ruled by a single king, this king was dependent on these governors. Thus the king needed to appeal to these governors to help him raise an army, with each region producing a number of young men to go on military campaigns, trading expeditions, or border patrols.
However, by the end of the reign of Senwosret III (12th dynasty), the king had regained enough control to raise an army without the help of the local governors.
The Middle Kingdom kings were keen on expanding Egypt’s boundaries, slowly pushing further into Nubia. With each successful push, they secured the area by building a fortress. For example:
Amenemhat I of the 12th dynasty built a row of fortresses in the north-eastern Delta to protect the borders from Asiatic attack.
Between the reigns of Senwosret I and III, a series of 17 fortresses in Nubia – ten near the second cataract of the Nile past the boundary between Egypt and Nubia – were erected to prevent infiltration by the Nubians as well as to control the trade from the gold mines and stone quarries in the region.
Sometimes these fortresses were over-large, just to prove a point that the Middle Kingdom kings were a military dynasty and to let the Nubians know that the Egyptians were there to stay.
The ten fortresses near the second cataract share a number of architectural elements, including
Bastions (protruding areas from the enclosure walls rather like towers) from within which soldiers could fire on the enemy.
Walls built of mud brick with wide stone bases. The thick walls had a walkway at the top so that soldiers could patrol the perimeter.
Ditches surrounding the enclosure walls making an obstacle for anyone trying to get into the fortress. The ditches were painted white so anyone in the ditch would be spotted from the walls.
Walled stairways to the Nile where supplies would come in and naval attacks could be launched. The stairways were the safest part of the fortress.
Other fortresses had fortified towns and religious temples constructed nearby. The fortress of Buhen included arrow slits high up in the walls, showing that archery was the main method of defence. Written evidence from the expulsion of the Hyksos (see the following section ‘Second intermediate period’) suggests that the fortified enclosure walls at Avaris also had arrow slits from which soldiers could shoot without being exposed to the enemy.
In addition to standing as symbols of Egyptian power, these fortresses also provide a great deal of information about the life of soldiers, including their pay, weapons, armour, and food (see the section ‘Creating an Army: A Key to the New Kingdom’, later in this chapter).
Second intermediate period
The Middle Kingdom collapsed around 1782 BC in a similar way to the Old Kingdom, perhaps due to floods and a subsequent famine. Many historians contend that the descriptions of terrible living conditions in the ‘Admonitions of Ipuwer’ (see the section ‘First intermediate period’, earlier in this chapter) also apply to the second intermediate period.
For some unspecified reason, at the end of the Middle Kingdom, a large influx of people from the area of Palestine and Syria (referred to by the Egyptians as Asiatics) came to the region. This was not an invasion, but rather a small-scale migration. Some historians believe that the Egyptian government may have invited the Palestinians for their boat-making skills, and these immigrants were then housed in the Delta, which was the site of large ports and trading centres.
The Hyksos period
Towards the end of the second intermediate period (1663–1555 BC), Egypt experienced a period of divided rule, with the 15th dynasty ruling in the north from the Delta site of Avaris and the 17th dynasty ruling from Thebes in the south:
The 15th-dynasty kings were known as the Hyksos and had risen to power from the Syro-Palestinian community living in the Delta during the Middle Kingdom.
The 17th-dynasty kings were of Egyptian origin, but may have been vassal rulers of the 15th dynasty, which means that they were only being allowed to rule because they were quiet and didn’t cause trouble.
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The unknown soldiers
At Deir el Bahri in Luxor, a mass grave for soldiers was discovered in a site overlooking the temple of Mentuhotep I (11th dynasty), near the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut.
At least 60 bodies were discovered in this tomb, all male, with an average height of 5 feet 6 inches and aged between 30 and 40. Many of the men had a number of old wounds that had healed, indicating that they were war veterans. Most of the wounds were on the left side of the head, which is common for battle wounds, because most soldiers are right handed. The wounds were caused by:
Arrows: Ten of the men were killed by puncture wounds from ebony-tipped arrows, and some fragments of these arrows were still embedded in the bodies. One soldier had an arrow embedded, while another was hit in the back from an angle that suggests he was shot from high battlements. (Most arrows were collected after battle and reused by the surviving army, but some were missed or too difficult to retrieve.)
Blunt objects: Other soldiers were killed by blunt objects like stones falling from battlements, and many died from being hit with force by a blunt instrument.
This battle was clearly harsh and bloody, but these men died when there was no outside warfare, indicating that they were involved in a civil war, perhaps Mentuhotep I reuniting a divided Egypt.
Expelling the Hyksos
Near the end of the Hyksos period (around 1640 BC), Hyksos kings had gained control over the whole of Egypt, serving as the undisputed kings of Upper and Lower Egypt.
However, the members of the 17th dynasty at Thebes weren’t over keen on the Hyksos kings interfering in local affairs. So Seqenenre Tao II, a 17th dynasty king, led an offensive against the Hyksos King Apophis.
The battle was not as easy as Seqenenre Tao originally thought, and he died in battle. His mummy includes numerous head wounds, indicating that this was a vicious battle. His son Kamose took up the gauntlet and continued the battle. Kamose was a little more successful and managed to reclaim most of Egypt, pushing Apopis back to the Hyksos capital of Avaris. Kamose died young, although historians are unsure how.
Kamose’s brother Ahmose I took over the battle and was more successful than his brother, managing to chase the Hyksos out of Egypt entirely. Ahmose continued to pursue the Hyksos as far as Sharuhen in the Negev Desert between Rafah and Gaza, sacking villages along the way – just to show who was boss.
Ahmose then returned to Egypt and reinforced the eastern borders with a strong military presence to ensure that the Hyksos supporters did not try to re-enter the country. This successful king was the first king of the 18th dynasty and ushered in the New Kingdom. (See Chapter 4 for more on this period of Egyptian history.)
Burying the evidence
The origins of the Hyksos have always been questioned, but the evidence at Avaris, their capital in the Delta, shows a juxtaposition between an Egyptian and a Syro-Palestinian culture. This mix of cultural influences is highlighted in two of the Hyksos’s most bizarre practices – servant and donkey burials:
Three servant burials have been discovered alongside their master’s tomb at Avaris. These servants were buried across the tomb entrance and face the door, as if waiting for orders from their deceased master. All the servants were males – an older adult, an adolescent, and a 25 year old. They all seem to have been buried at the same time as their master, indicating that they were sacrificed when their master died. This practice had been used by the Egyptians, but not for more than 1,000 years at the time of the burials, suggesting it was a foreign idea from the homeland of these Asiatic settlers.
Seventeen donkey burials have also been discovered at Avaris. Donkey burial was a non-Egyptian practice. The donkeys were typically buried in pairs at the front of large tombs, possibly as a sacrifice on the deaths of the tomb owners. These donkeys may have pulled carts or funerary carriages, but no harnesses were found alongside these burials. The inclusion of donkeys was rare and only attached to very elite burials, which indicates wealth and status within the community.
Creating an Army: A Key to the New Kingdom
As with most positions in Egypt, military roles were passed on from father to son (see Chapter 2). However, based on records of military promotions, Egyptian males, including the uneducated, were able to become soldiers and rise through the ranks. Prior to the start of a permanent army, Egyptians could gain political power or reach the throne only through bureaucracy or the priesthood.
Signing up
Training in the army started as young as 5 years old, although professional military service didn’t start until the age of 20. Older recruits may have joined as part of a national service with a requirement of serving at least a year before returning to their villages. However, after training they could be called up at any time.
Just like today, new military recruits needed to get haircuts. Images of this process have been discovered in tombs. The haircuts created an element of uniformity among the ranks.
Surviving texts also describe the start of a new recruit’s life in the army. New recruits received a ‘searing beating’ as a means of demoralising them in order to make them more pliable and susceptible to obeying orders.
The training regime was hard and included
Weight lifting, using bags of sand as weights
Wrestling
Boxing
Throwing knives at wooden targets to improve aim
Sword skills, using sticks for practice
Chariot riding
Target practice in a chariot with a bow and arrow (see Figure 3-1)
These tasks would be hard in anyone’s books, but imagine doing all of this outside in more than 100-degree heat. No wonder the Egyptian army was particularly good and greatly feared by many.
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Figure 3-1: Target practice using a copper target (Luxor Museum). |
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Dividing the army
The New Kingdom was a large operation that needed a great deal of organisation to make it work well. The majority of the army was made up of infantry (foot soldiers) who were separated into divisions of 5,000 men.
Each division was named after a god and had a royal son in the position of general of the division. (Some of the princes who held this title were actually infants, indicating that it was an honorary title.) Specialist divisions included groups of charioteers, archers, spearmen, and foreign mercenaries.
For easier control, the army was further divided:
A host consisted of 500 men (at least two companies).
A company had 250 men (consisting of five platoons).
A platoon had 50 men (consisting of five squads).
A squad had 10 men.
A soldier’s life
Papyrus Anastasi 3, written during the New Kingdom reign of Sety II, was probably copied from an earlier text. It describes in detail the experience of a typical soldier.
What is it that you say they tell, that the soldier’s is more pleasant than the scribe’s profession? Come let me tell you the condition of the soldier, that much exerted one. He is brought while a child to be confined in the camp. A searing beating is given to his body, a wound inflicted on his eye and a splitting blow to his brow. He is laid down and beaten like papyrus. He is struck with torments.
Come, let me relate to you his journey to Khor [Palestine and Syria] and his marching upon the hills. His rations and water are upon his shoulder like the load of an ass. His neck has become calloused, like that of an ass. The vertebrae of his back are broken. He drinks foul water and halts to stand guard. When he reaches the enemy he is like a pinioned bird, with no strength in his limbs. If he succeeds in returning to Egypt, he is like a stick which the woodworm has devoured. He is sick, prostration overtakes him. He is brought back upon an ass, his clothes taken away by theft, his henchmen fled . . . turn back from the saying that the soldier’s is more pleasant than the scribe’s profession.
This text, as I am sure is clear, was written to try to persuade a young boy to bypass the glamour of military life and enter the scribal profession instead. You wouldn’t have to tell me twice.
Tagging along
In addition to soldiers, the army included numerous other important elements, such as:
Musicians: Trumpets and drums were used to help troops march in time, as well to signal tactical changes and manoeuvres during battles.
Standard bearers: Military standards were an important part of the battle, because seeing where the troops were situated on the field was vital. Standards were also a source of pride for the troops.
Scribes: All battle events needed to be recorded, and military scribes accompanied the military onto the battlefield. They were responsible for counting amputated body parts after a battle (a method of counting the enemy dead), as well as recording the amount of booty and number of prisoners collected.
Camp followers: A number of other individuals milled around the military camps and were responsible for cleaning the officers’ tents, fetching water, and cooking. These individuals often included children, who perhaps were later trained to become soldiers.
Performing non-combative duties
In addition to fighting in battles, soldiers were assigned to do a number of boring or difficult tasks:
One of the most tedious assignments was guarding desert trading routes for up to 20 days at a time. The graffiti on some of these desert sites show that soldiers on duty were bored out of their minds, marking off the days until they returned to civilisation.
Soldiers were also drafted for transportation of large stone blocks for the construction of sarcophagi and obelisks. Hundreds of strong men were needed, and they didn’t come much stronger than the military.
Because of their strength, soldiers helped with the harvest to ensure that it was completed quickly and efficiently. Whether they travelled to their own village to help with the harvest or were allocated to the place most in need is uncertain, but soldiers were definitely used for this important annual event.
On the march
When the soldiers were sent out on a military campaign, they probably dreamed of quiet guard duties. The journeys to get to the battles were often long and hard – sometimes as dangerous as the fights themselves.
For example, a journey from Memphis to Thebes, if travelled in daylight hours by river, took between 12 and 20 days. (Today it takes nine hours by train or about an hour by plane.) The river journey was quite hazardous, with threats from other vessels, sandbanks, and hippos.
To warn passing vessels and people that the military was on board ship, soldiers hung their cowhide shields on the outside of the boats’ cabins. This may also have acted as a beacon to passing bad guys wanting to harm the soldiers.
Historians don’t know how fast an Egyptian army marched, but records from Alexander the Great’s army (around 336–323 BC) show that his troops covered an average of 13 miles a day, receiving a rest period every five to six days for particularly long-distance marches. On shorter campaigns, these troops covered up to 15 miles a day. The marching army also required a rest period between a long march and actually fighting, in order to recuperate their strength.
Policing and tax collecting
When not involved in military combat, soldiers were often employed in tax collecting and general policing.
One text from the reign of Horemheb (18th dynasty) tells of a court case between some soldiers and tax payers: The soldiers had gone to collect taxes and then nicked half the stuff collected and had the cheek to say they had never been paid in the first place. The king decreed that farmers shouldn’t be punished for non-payment if their payments had been stolen (which is only fair, really). The soldiers were punished with 100 blows and five open wounds and were forced to return the goods they took.
In the Graeco-Roman period (332–30 BC), the military was still used for tax collection. One record shows a tax collector, Timcyenes, requesting that his boss send some soldiers to help him collect tax from a reluctant villager.
I have collected taxes from all the residents of the village except Johannes . . . he refuses to pay his account . . . please send two soldiers to the village where he is being held, because in that way we may be able to get the money that is owed.
Historians don’t know whether the soldiers were successful, but the record does indicate that soldiers had a certain amount of persuasive power – no doubt with the aid of big sticks.
Eating like a soldier: Military fare
Soldiers often had to carry their sustenance with them (thus increasing the weight of their packs). Alexander the Great recorded that his army of 10,000 men and 2,000 horses had a daily consumption of
14 tonnes of grain
18 tonnes of fodder
90,000 litres of water
Soldiers were given fewer than ten loaves of bread a day each, which they carried in bags and baskets. This bread (probably more biscuit than bread) would have grown mould, which although unknown to the Egyptians was a form of natural antibiotic.
Soldiers also carried the ingredients for making bread if they had access to ovens en route or time to fashion mud ovens while at camp.
Other food items were part of the Egyptian military diet because they stored and travelled well, and included onions, beans, figs, dates, fish, and meat. Many kinds of fruit and meat were dried, but the soldiers also caught fish. Enemy livestock was plundered for meat. Beer may have been brewed on campaign because it didn’t keep for long. Drinking water was obtained from wells. Soldiers had to carry or steal wine to accompany their meals.
Because the quantity of food required for an army was so immense, the military probably stored food at numerous forts along the campaign route. The armies also made use of food storage in any town or village along the way. In fact, villages may have been legally obligated to help passing armies. Of course, feeding 10,000 men and numerous horses at the drop of a hat may have bankrupted a few of the smaller towns.
Waiting for pay day
The food that the military needed to survive formed the majority of their wages, because no monetary system existed until the time of Alexander the Great. On campaign, these wages were simply eaten, while in the barracks they were exchanged for other goods.
In addition to official wages, soldiers were able to plunder other goodies to give their wealth a boost. Plunder in the form of gold, cattle, and even women was taken from enemy camps after cities had been sacked and regions conquered. The officers obviously got the best of the booty, but ordinary infantry soldiers also returned with full backpacks.
A formal system of awards also recognised the bravest soldiers for their work. These awards consisted of golden flies (as a sign of persistence), gold shebyu collars for valour, ‘oyster’ shells of gold or shell, and even property. Not only were the soldiers made wealthy by these gifts, they also received recognition within the Egyptian community for their services.
Armed for battle
Egyptian soldiers were bedecked in weapons, equipment, armour, and even religious icons as they headed into battle.
Armed to the teeth
The weapons in the Egyptian army were varied and numerous. Soldiers did not always own their weapons, and in records from Medinet Habu, Ramses III supervises the issuing of weapons for the battle against the Sea People (see Chapter 4). The weapons were stacked in piles, swords in one, bows in another, and arrows in a third.
Weapons varied from the simple to the complicated to the downright unpleasant:
Sticks and stones: Sticks were good for close combat and were used as clubs. Stones were good for long-distance combat because they could be thrown. Both were readily available.
Mace: This large piece of hard stone (such as granite or diorite) mounted on a handle was used to club people to death. A New Kingdom adaptation of this weapon was to fit a sharpened curved bronze blade (see Khepesh
swords, below) to a mace and use that not only to club but also to slice at your opponent.
Slingshots: Originally used for hunting, these were adapted for military use as well. Ammunition was always available, and the slings were easy to transport.
Throwsticks: These were primarily used for hunting birds, but were also effective weapons in battle. Their main disadvantage was that as soon as the sticks were thrown, the soldiers were unarmed.
Bow and arrow: The Egyptian army had a large corps of archers used to protect the infantry from a distance, because arrows travelled up to 200 metres. Archers used both the self bow (a straight bow made from a single piece of wood) and the composite bow (an arched bow made from a number of small pieces of wood glued together to give greater flexibility). Archers could send arrows travelling up to 300 metres.
Spears: Many of the foot soldiers were armed with spears with a 2-metre-long shaft and a metal blade. Spears were intended to be thrown, but because this disarmed the spearman, they were also used as stabbing weapons.
Axes, daggers, and swords: These instruments were used in close-combat battles and were made of bronze, copper, or (in the case of axes only) stone.
Khepesh swords: These New Kingdom weapons were normally used by royalty and featured a type of scimitar with a curved blade.
Shields: These were used for body protection in place of full body armour. They measured 1 by 1.5 metres and were made of wood. Sometimes they were solid wood, which would have made them heavy; more often they consisted of a wooden frame covered in cow hide. A handle was fixed to the back, to which a soldier could attach a strap to sling the shield over the shoulder while on the march. In the absence of proper armour, Egyptian soldiers were still well protected from the showers of arrows, stones, sticks, and swords raining on them.
The transport of choice
A vital item of military kit was the chariot, which was introduced during the Hyksos period (see the section ‘The Hyksos period’, earlier in this chapter).
The typical Egyptian chariot had a light wooden semi-circular frame with an open back and an axle with two wheels of either four or six spokes. These wheels were made up of numerous smaller pieces tied together with wet leather thongs, which shrank when dry and pulled the wheel together. A long pole was attached to the axle with a yoke for two horses.
Each chariot had a driver and a man armed with a spear, shield, or bow and arrow. The small, agile chariot allowed the army to pursue the enemy quickly as well as rain arrows down on them at the same time. Archaeologists have only discovered 11 chariots, four from the tomb of Tutankhamun, two from the tomb of Yuya and Tuya (the parents of Queen Tiye), and one belonging to Thutmose IV.
Papyrus Anastasi I from the 19th dynasty describes the adventures of an Egyptian charioteer in Canaan, including a visit to a chariot repair shop in Joppa:
You make your way into the armoury; workshops surround you; smiths and leather-workers are all about you. They do all that you wish. They attend to your chariot, so that it may cease from lying idle. Your pole is newly shaped. They give leather covering to your collar-piece. They supply your yoke. They give a . . . (of metal) to your whip; they fasten [to] it lashes. You go forth quickly to fight on the open field, to accomplish the deeds of the brave!
Sounds like a very ordinary visit in the life of a charioteer.
Throughout the New Kingdom, all royal sons were trained in driving chariots and firing arrows from moving chariots. Battle reliefs generally show the king alone in his chariot, often with four horses instead of the usual two, to demonstrate his great horsemanship and control.
Dressed to kill
In the New Kingdom, the introduction of bronze weapons led to a greater need for body armour. Armour was probably reserved for the elite members of the army rather than the masses of infantry, and included:
Scales of bronze or hard leather: These were fixed and overlapping on a jerkin of linen or leather.
Helmets: These were generally worn only by Sherden mercenaries (a foreign group who formed part of the Sea People – see Chapter 4) and had weird little horns and a round disc on top.
Ordinary soldiers probably only had their hair as a form of head protection. Some Middle Kingdom soldiers had tightly curled, heavily greased hair that created a spongy layer – a style that was difficult for the enemy to grab hold of in battle.
Battle crown: The blue crown of New Kingdom kings is thought to be a royal battle helmet, probably made of leather, with silver or electrum discs fixed to it. However, no royal crowns have been discovered, so no one knows if battle crowns were worn.
Gloves: Due to the climate, these were not commonly used other than by charioteers of high status. Gloves were made of leather or thick linen and prevented the reins from rubbing the hands.
Kilts: Most of the army wore a single triangle of linen folded into a kilt. Some reliefs indicate that the front may have been stiffened to provide a little extra protection. A wooden model, discovered in a tomb, representing a division of Nubian archers shows them wearing red and green loincloths, which may have been made of leather for additional protection.
Soldiers wore a leather skin over the plain linen kilts. These skins were often made from a whole gazelle skin, slashed with a sharp knife to give extra flexibility. A solid leather patch over the rear provided extra padding while sitting.
Although painted reliefs only show these basic clothes, soldiers probably wore more, especially on winter nights. Tomb reliefs generally show the soldiers in their ‘dress uniforms’ rather than giving a realistic depiction of battle clothes. Also, during fighting, soldiers were likely to have worn as little as possible; the weather was hot, and loose clothing gave the enemy something to grab on to. Any wounds inflicted through long clothing could also get infected with tiny bits of grubby fabric entering the wounds.
Religious protection
In addition to the equipment and weapons that Egyptian soldiers carried with them (spears, shields, daggers, bows, and arrow quivers), battle reliefs and archaeological records show that the military relied not only on armour, but also on religious icons for protection.
The most prominent icon consisted of the protective wings that the king wore. The wings belonged to Horus and wrapped around the king’s chest showing that he was protected by the god. A pair of these wings was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun. (They are, in fact, made of linen, and therefore offered no form of protection other than religious.)
Jewellery was both functional and decorative, as the king wore jewellery as a form of protection. One piece of jewellery, also found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, consists of a large collar attached to a thick band of gold scales that protected his king’s torso. The collar was made of images of the king smiting enemies in the presence of the god. However, how much protection soft gold provided against a spear or arrow at speed is uncertain, and the king probably wore this type of collar in the military parades before or after the battle.
The ordinary soldiers wouldn’t have had this large-scale religious protection and would have relied on amulets to protect them (Chapter 9 has more on amulets).
Recording victories
The Egyptians were very keen on their battle records as a means of broadcasting their victories. Military scribes who accompanied the army on its campaigns created these records. The records are in the form of official reports and include poetic narratives and very elaborate images.
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They were too good at fighting.
Everyone else was scared of them.
All the enemy soldiers were cowards who ran away.
Archaeological evidence shows that this clearly isn’t the case, with many mummies showing signs of battle wounds. I suppose that the scribes were only keeping morale up by trying to convince the troops of their invincibility.
Perusing the military annals
Many kings produced a set of annals that recorded their military campaigns. However, only two annals have survived – the Palermo Stone and the annals of Thutmose III (also carved in stone). The Palermo Stone is in fragments in the Palermo Archaeological Museum in Sicily, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Petrie Museum in London. The annals of Thutmosis III are in situ at Karnak Temple.
The Palermo stone records many events of the early kings, including battles, flood levels, and heb sed festivals (see Chapter 9).
The annals vary depending on what the king had achieved. For example, the annals of Thutmose III focus on his military achievements because he was a warrior pharaoh and the first empire-builder in Egypt.
Other records that describe military campaigns include
Graffiti on campaign routes
Autobiographical texts of army personnel in tombs
Temple descriptions and images
Every picture tells a story
The artistic representations of battles in temple reliefs didn’t change very much in 3,000 years of Egyptian history – which is a clear warning that these images cannot always be taken at face value.
Several themes recur in these surviving scenes:
Scenes often show the king holding his enemies by their forelock as he prepares to hit them with a mace. (This was introduced on the Narmer palette in 3100 BC – refer to Chapter 1.) Regardless of whether the pharaoh is in a chariot, strolling through the battlefield, or seated on his throne, the fallen enemies are always shown in a tangled mess beneath his feet, indicating his power over them.
The gods are often represented playing a major role in the battles of kings. In the New Kingdom, in particular, the king is counselled regarding the battle by Amun, who is shown handing the sword of victory to the king. After battle, the king is often shown parading the booty and prisoners of war in front of Amun by way of thanks for the help received in battle.