Throughout the centuries-old history of ancient Egypt, peace and quiet were its rare guests. In addition to the fact that the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile had to repel the attacks of warlike neighbors and numerous nomadic tribes, the state was periodically shocked by internal conflicts, resulting in bloody riots and unrest. Therefore, the weapons of ancient Egypt often became the decisive argument in solving many vital issues.
The main periods of the history of ancient Egypt
Traditionally, the history of Ancient Egypt is usually divided into several stages, the main of which are:
- The ancient kingdom, covering the period from 3.2 thousand to 2.4 thousand years BC. e. It was preceded by the Pre-Dynastic period and the Early Kingdom.
- Middle Kingdom - from 2.1 thousand to 1.8 thousand years BC. e.
- The new kingdom - between 1.7 thousand years BC and 1.1 thousand years BC. e. It was followed by the Late and Hellenistic periods.
Such a chronology is rather arbitrary, since there were quite long transitional stages between each of the main historical periods, which became the time of the acute political and social struggle that Ancient Egypt experienced. Weapons in these periods were in demand more than ever, which gave an additional impetus to its improvement.
Reasons for creating a regular army
During the period of the Ancient Kingdom, which left a memory in itself for the construction of the largest and most famous pyramids in our time, the main danger for the southern borders of Egypt was its traditional enemies, the Nubians, and for the eastern ones, the Bedouin nomads. Since the protection from their invasions and the protection of trade routes was a paramount task, the pharaohs took care of creating a regular army, the units of which had uniform weapons. These included mainly free peasants who received a certain salary for their service.
What weapons were made in ancient Egypt?
At all stages of the development of mankind, its armament depended primarily on the level of technological progress. Since in the period under review it was still in its initial stage, the weapons in Ancient Egypt were made from the limited list of materials that the gunsmiths had at that time. Of the metals at their disposal were only copper and bronze, which went to the manufacture of daggers and battle axes. The weapons made from them were unusually expensive at that time and were used mainly by military leaders of various levels and by the pharaohs themselves.
The main striking force of the army consisted of soldiers armed with spears and hiding behind shields. A separate branch of the army was archers and soldiers who hit the enemy with maces. The tips for spears and arrows, as well as the upper thickened parts of the clubs, called pommels, were made of flint.
Infantry Shields and Wigs
The Egyptian battle shields were mainly of two types - large, reaching almost to the chin of a warrior and pointed in the upper part, as well as smaller, having a rounded shape. Both of them were equipped with special belts on the inside, which made it possible to hold them, and it was easy to carry out various combat techniques.
As for the clothes of the ancient warriors, in view of the dry and hot climate, they did not have any special uniforms. Their usual outfit consisted of a short skirt, also common among the civilian population, as well as wigs made of sheep's clothing. This seemingly decorative attribute, however, had a purely utilitarian purpose. Made of several layers of sheepskin, turned outward by fur, such hats played the role of helmets that protect the warrior's head from the blow of a club or mace.
Egyptian phalanx
The size and combat effectiveness of the Egyptian army is evidenced by the fact that during the reign of Pharaoh Snofru (2614–2579 BC), as a result of hostilities, the Egyptians managed to capture 700 thousand prisoners in addition to rich booty. Since they had to fight on the open flat terrain, the Egyptians' main fighting tactics was to build the phalanx, a dense line consisting of spearmen who covered themselves with shields.
Archers followed them, shooting through their heads and showering the enemy with clouds of arrows. With this tactic, which was also used by other peoples, the more disciplined and trained army always won. In this regard, the Egyptians knew no equal.
Features of the Army of the Middle Kingdom
The weapons of Ancient Egypt in the period of the Middle Kingdom were replenished with widespread poleaxes. In the previous historical period, they were already known on the banks of the Nile, but were used extremely rarely due to their high cost. This chopping-stabbing weapon, which was a semblance of a wide curved ax mounted on a long pole, was made of bronze, so it was extremely expensive.
As before, the army was divided into soldiers who used shields in battle, and those who did without them. The former included spearmen, to which infantrymen with axes also joined at the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the latter included warriors armed with darts, axes, axes, clubs and clubs.
Innovations in battle tactics
Partially modified and the order of construction of the fighting phalanges. If in the previous period they were single-row, now they began to build soldiers in several ranks, standing one after another. At the same time, those who were placed in the back rows had spears with longer shafts, which also allowed them to hit the enemy.
This order of placement of spearmen was called deep construction and was then used by many armies. Despite the fact that the famous Macedonian phalanx can serve as its most perfect example, Ancient Egypt tested and developed this innovation, the weapons of which even at that time made it possible to use similar battle tactics.
A characteristic feature of the Egyptian army during the Middle Kingdom was that it consisted exclusively of infantry and had not yet used horses, although they were already known on the banks of the Nile in that era. As before, in the course of hostilities an important role was given to archers, the armament of which had several modifications.
It was a very formidable force. Calculations show that warriors armed with the simplest bows made of one piece of wood and reaching a meter and a half in scope, were able to hit the enemy at a distance of 150 meters. Along with that, there were more advanced samples of these weapons, collected from various species of wood and covered with leather. But because of their high cost, they were hardly accessible to ordinary soldiers.
The decline and subsequent rebirth of Egypt
For the Egyptians, the era of the Middle Kingdom ended very poorly. This happened partly due to the fact that they did not timely strengthen the army with a new kind of troops at that time - war chariots that their neighbors had long used. As a result, they received a bitter lesson taught by the tribes of nomadic Hyksos.
Using high-speed double chariots in battle, they made lightning attacks, showering the enemy with rain of arrows and safely avoiding pursuit. For their mobile units, the troops and weapons of Ancient Egypt, which lingered on the previous stage of their development, did not pose a serious danger. The result was his capture by the Hyksos and the ensuing period of decline.
The revival of the previously powerful, but defeated by the barbarians of the state began around the XVII century BC. e. The main reason for this process was that the warriors of Ancient Egypt and their weapons underwent dramatic changes that finally allowed them to expel the invaders.
First of all, they learned not only to breed horses, but also to manage them. In addition, Egyptian masters adopted the technology of manufacturing war chariots from foreigners, and former infantrymen mastered the technique of conducting effective combat operations with their help.
What did a war chariot look like?
What was the Egyptian war chariot today can be judged by the images that have reached us, as well as by artifacts discovered during archaeological excavations. It was a light wagon designed for two people, one of whom controlled two horses harnessed to it, and the second at that time fired at opponents from archery.
Its design was thought out so that the chariot had the lowest possible weight and was able to develop high speed. For this purpose, only the necessary number of lateral wooden fences was installed, and the floor was made of woven thin rods. The wheels with narrow wooden rims also did not have much weight. Quivers with arrows were fastened to the sides of the chariot, the reserve of which made it possible to conduct a long battle.
Weapon innovations
At the same time, the most important factor that made it possible to raise the armament of the army to a completely different level was the improvement achieved in metal processing. Thanks to them, the former flint tips of spears and arrows were replaced by iron leaf-shaped ones. The design of the bows themselves was also improved, which allowed to significantly increase their accuracy and range.
During this period, the old weapons of ancient Egypt, whose names are mostly familiar to history buffs, were replenished with a novelty borrowed, according to researchers, from the Sumerians. It was the so-called hopesh — a kind of edged weapon consisting of a sickle-shaped curved blade and hilt. A characteristic feature of this type of sword was its high penetrating ability, which allowed it to hit soldiers dressed in metal shells.
It is noteworthy that among the new types of weapons that appeared during this period, boomerangs are also found, and apparently outwardly indistinguishable from those used by the inhabitants of Australia and Polynesia. Since in this case any borrowing is excluded, it remains to be assumed that Ancient Egypt is directly their homeland.
Weapons and military organization of the New Kingdom
The technical innovations described above made it possible to significantly restructure the entire military organization of the state. In addition to the infantry — the “mesh” — inherited from previous centuries, chariots — the “nether,” appeared, becoming a kind of army elite. They devoted their whole lives to the study of combat skills and inherited from father to son the places in the chariots.
The clothing and weapons of the infantrymen of Ancient Egypt also changed. To the previous skirts were added heart-shaped stuffed protective aprons that covered the warrior's belly. Fur wigs, which have not justified themselves and have become obsolete, have been replaced by headscarves that protect from the scorching rays of the sun.
In its entirety, the equipment of the Egyptian soldiers of the New Kingdom was presented at the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC), where their army came together on the battlefield with the troops of the Hittite kingdom. Ancient Egypt, whose weapons continued to improve, in addition to its traditional types, such as bows, spears, darts, battle axes, poleaxes, daggers and the hopeshes that appeared shortly before, which were described above, that day showed the world two completely new types of daggers .
Their double-edged blades forged from steel (previously made of bronze) had a leaf-like shape, in which they gradually sharpened at the ends. Handles equipped with cone-shaped sockets were also comfortable. They were identical in design, and the difference was mainly in size. This battle became a kind of frontier on which bronze and copper in the hands of warriors gave way to steel.
In subsequent historical periods, the weapons of Ancient Egypt (photos of some of its samples are presented in the article) underwent further changes resulting from both technical progress within the country itself and the development of international relations.