The army of Ancient Egypt was a force that, for several millennia, terrified its less developed neighbors. Although it seems from modern times that Egypt has long remained unchanged, each period of its history deserves special attention. Being one of the basic institutions of the state, the army of Egypt changed as its other structures changed.
The importance of the army in the ancient state
Throughout Egyptian history, it was the army that was the force that determined the power of this ancient civilization. Historians distinguish four large time periods in the statehood of the country, called the Kings: Early, Ancient, Middle and New. Each of these periods also corresponds to a special way of organizing the army of Egypt.
A distinctive feature of Egypt at all times of its existence was its centralized structure. However, this strong and unified state was surrounded by a hostile Sahara, inhabited by nomadic tribes, who from time to time attacked their highly organized neighbor.
Such proximity and constant pressure from other civilized states forced the ancient country to constantly maintain regular troops to defend borders and new conquests.
How was Egypt protected?
The natural border that separated the state from the surrounding chaos of unorganized tribes was the arid desert lands of Africa. In the later periods of the kingdoms of the Sahara, it defended the country even from the well-organized armies of the Middle East.
The natural conditions on the borders of Egypt were such that even a relatively small garrison of a watch fortress, which was built to the west and east of the mouth of the Nile, could hold the enemy for a long time until reinforcements arrived.
However, only border settlements had fortifications, while the cities of the central part of the country, including its capital, were deprived of fortress walls and other defensive structures.
The geographical location also influenced how the Egyptian army carried out expansion. However, technology was also of great importance for the military successes of the ancient Egyptian state.
Main threats
It is believed that the history of the state in the years 2686-2181 BC belongs to the Ancient Kingdom. e. This time was a period of wealth and cultural prosperity. An important role in state building was given to the armies of Egypt.
The government of the country managed to create at that time a stable and combat-ready armed forces that could effectively protect the state border and even expand the territories under its control for five hundred years. However, there were also enough external threats.
The main threat came from the inhabitants of the gradually drying up Sahara, the ancient Libyans. From the south, the Nubians threatened the country, and Semitic tribes regularly invaded Egypt from the Arabian Peninsula. Separate mention deserves intra-state conflicts between the rulers of different nomes, there was separatism. However, the list of threats was not limited to this, since any nation beyond the control of the pharaoh was considered a source of threat.
Egyptian Army in the Ancient Kingdom
The defense of Egypt during this period was based on the construction of fortresses in the Nile Valley, and the Nubian country located south of the Egyptian borders was the main enemy. Fortresses were built even outside the controlled lands. However, it was not possible to verify the effectiveness of these fortifications, since no one attacked them.
At that time, the army in ancient Egypt was made up of peasants. A characteristic feature of the country's military organization was the lack of professional armed forces. Despite the centralized nature of the state, each ruler of the nome independently collected the army. At that time, service in the armed forces was not too prestigious and did not give special career and social prospects, therefore they were replenished mainly due to the least protected sections of the population.
From the militia gathered in the nomes, as a result, an army was formed, whose command was transferred to the pharaoh. The soldiers were armed with primitive weapons: bows, shields, clubs and buzdygans (a special kind of mace with metal plates).
Middle Kingdom. The ideology of the empire
In 2055 BC, Egyptian statehood entered a new phase. A distinctive feature of this period was the model according to which economic prosperity became a matter of the use of military force. The armament of the army of Ancient Egypt during this period undergoes significant changes.
If in the previous period the fortresses were built exclusively for defensive purposes, then at a new stage military force is used already in the interests of expanding borders and constant expansion. What kind of army of Egypt was at that time, we know not only from internal sources, but also from its neighbors with whom the country fought.
The pharaohs sought to replenish their treasury through control of trade routes and mediation. In addition, captives were an important part of the international trade of the time.
Transition period
The reign of the pharaoh Mernofer Aib was the last in the XIII dynasty, and immediately after his flight from the country, a long transitional period began during which the West Semitic Hyksos ruled the country.
The Egyptian army was powerless in front of the swift squads of well-trained warriors. The invaders destroyed Memphis, destroying a significant part of its population. The surviving Egyptians fled to Thebes, which became a hotbed of resistance to foreigners. At the same time, Nubians began to attack from the south.
However, despite all the catastrophic consequences of the Hyksos invasion, it also had positive consequences. The clash with these people pushed the Egyptians to a radical change in military tactics and strategy. It was the Hyksos who introduced war chariots into the Egyptian army .
New military equipment, among which was composite, allowed the Egyptians to oust the invaders, significantly updating both military affairs and public administration.
New kingdom
The next historical period, which lasted almost five hundred years, became the true golden age of Egyptian culture. It was at this time that the three greatest dynasties of the pharaohs ruled: XVIII, XIX, XX.
However, there were serious upheavals, the largest of which was the invasion of the "peoples of the sea." Egypt was almost the only power in the Mediterranean that proved able to withstand during the "Bronze Age catastrophe." This was made possible largely due to military technology borrowed from the Hyksos.
Unlike the Hittites, who used war chariots in large numbers, the Egyptians relied on infantry of varying degrees of armament, which allowed them to significantly increase the size of the army.
The evolution of the army and weapons
The period of the New Kingdom became a boundary beyond which strong changes took place in the structure of the army of Ancient Egypt. In the old days, an army was recruited on a non-voluntary basis from peasants. However, in the army of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt during the period of the New Kingdom, a layer of the military appeared, who entered the service voluntarily and for significant privileges.
In the earliest period of the state’s existence in the army, wooden shields, leather spears with copper tips, and clubs with stone tops were used. After the war with the Hyksos in the arsenal of the army of Ancient Egypt, complexly designed bows, war chariots, and bronze battle axes appeared.
The central place in the Egyptian military strategy was occupied by a massive attack by archers, which preceded hand-to-hand combat. In this case, the tips were made of silicon or copper. In addition to weak shields, the infantry had no other protection, since before the beginning of the second millennium BC, the Egyptians did not use armor.
The role of the chariot in the Egyptian army
As a legacy, the Hyksos left an important technical innovation - the chariot, which the Egyptians significantly improved. The chariot has become easier and faster compared to those used in the countries of the Middle East.
Two people were needed to service the Egyptian chariot: a charioteer who controlled the reins and a warrior, usually armed with a composite bow and protected by scaly armor. In the images that have survived to this day, you can often see the pharaoh in a chariot leading his army into battle. The pharaohs were protected much better than ordinary warriors thanks to the use of precious stones in their vestments, which made the armor firmer.
During the XIX dynasty, armor became more widespread, which became available to almost all soldiers, and the sword-hopeshah, which can often be seen in images of that period, is widely used.
Technical Innovation and Social Change
Following technological changes, innovations in military strategy also followed. Having acquired new weapons, Egypt was given the opportunity to pursue a tougher expansionist policy, and the army became professional, which led to strong changes in society.
Going beyond the borders of their country, the Egyptians encountered other developed civilizations of the Ancient World. In total, the pharaohs conducted about twenty foreign companies against Babylonia, the Hittite Empire, Mitanni and Assyria.
An important part of the ancient Egyptian army were mercenaries from the barbarian tribes of Libya and Nubia, as well as Palestine. In sources related to the second millennium BC. e., also referred to the people of Sherdans, who hunted piracy along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Although they are called mercenaries in documents, scholars tend to regard them as prisoners of war.
Late period
From 712 to 332 BC e. lasted the late period of Egyptian statehood, which became the final chord in the history of the country. It was during this period that the army began to use iron weapons and borrowed the phalanx from the Greek invaders. In the late period, the division of the armed forces into three parts was finally approved: infantry, chariots, and the navy.
As a result of the long evolution of the armed forces, it was decided to divide the army into North and South, each of which was later also divided into two parts.
The system was arranged in such a way that the pharaoh recruited the highest command from his closest relatives, and they recruited lower-ranking officers from among the less successful princes. In addition, the level of education was an important factor in the selection of candidates, as senior officers often had to carry out diplomatic functions.
What the army of Egypt was, we know from detailed descriptions of the overseas campaigns of the pharaohs, as well as from the images on the walls of temples and tombs. The contents of burials, which often housed entire chariots, as well as armor and personal weapons of soldiers, also serve as an important source of information about weapons.
We owe much information about the ancient Egyptians to the invasion of Napoleon’s army in Egypt, which was accompanied by numerous scientists who compiled the lists of burials. Numerous artifacts obtained by the French during the Egyptian expedition, became the basis of European collections. It is thanks to the archaeological boom that followed the French military campaign that we know what the weapons of the Egyptian army consisted of.