Egyptian Warfare and Weapons

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Egyptian Warfare and Weapons

Ian Shaw

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3 Cover illustration Seti I shown charging Libyan enemies: from a nineteenth-century

coloured cast, now at the British Museum, made from a relief

on the north wall of the temple of Amun at Karnak.

(Photograph copyright: Peter Clayton.)

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

Shaw, Ian.

Egyptian warfare and weapons.

/. Title.

Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 4

CHRONOLOGY 5

1. INTRODUCTION 7

932. ISBN 0-747X-OI42-8.

2. EGYPT'S ENEMIES 9

3. FORTRESSES AND FRONTIERS 15

4. THE EGYPTIAN ARMY 25

5. WEAPONS AND MILITARY TECHNOLOGY 31

6. IMPERIAL STRATEGIES AND INTERNATIONAL

DIPLOMACY 45

7. NAVAL BATTLES 59

8. MILITARY DECLINE 65

Published by

SHIRE PUBLICAnONS LTD

Cromwell House, Church Street, Princes Risborough,

Buckinghamshire HP17 9AJ, UK.

Series Editor: Barbara Adams.

9. MUSEUMS 69

10. FURTHER READING 70

INDEX 72

Copyright © Ian Shaw, 1991.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopy, recording, or any information storage

and retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the publishers.

ISBN 0 7478 0142 8.

First published 1991.

Printed in Great Britain by

C. I. Thomas & Sons (Haverfordwest) Ltd, Press Buildings, Merlins Bridge, Haverfordwest, Dyfed SA61 1XF.

Acknowledgements In writing this book I have received an incalculable amount of encour­ agement and enthusiasm from Ann Jones, who is also responsible for the line drawings. I am very grateful to Barry Kemp, who read and commented on the final draft of the text, and to Peter Clayton and Kenneth Kitchen, who kindly provided some of the photographs. The dynastic chronology is based on that of Dr William J. Murnane and acknowledgement is made to him and to Penguin Books for its use here.

35, Sherden mercenaries at the battle of Qadesh, from the Temple of Ramesses

II at Abydos, Nineteenth Dynasty page 44

36. Map of Egypt, the Levant and Western Asia during the New Kingdom

List of illustrations 1. Narmer Palette from Hierakonpolis, Protodynaxtic Period [Jag I' 8

2. Battlefield Palette, showing the Egyptian king in till' form of a lion

savaging his enemies, Protodynastic Period [Jag I' 8

3. Ceremonial cane from the tomb ofTurankhumun. Nnv Kingdom p(l,~e II) 4. Line of foreign captives with toponyms page I I

5. Figure of Ramesses III smiting a Libyan at Medinet IIabu, New Kingdom page 12

6. View of the migdol gateway at Mcdinct l labu, New Kingdom page 14

7. Hieroglyphic symbols for fortifications: niwt, liwt and' h page f() 8. Model of battlements from Abadiych, Predynuxtic Period page 16

9. Scene of siege warfare and a battering ram from the tomb or Khcry at Bcni

Hasan, Middle Kingdom page 17

10. Map of the Egyptian fortresses in Nubia during tlK' Middle Kingdom page 19

11. View of the ramparts at Buhcn, Middle Kingdom page 20

12. Plans of the Buhen, Uronarti , Shalfak and Scmnu forts page 2 I

13. Military ration tokens from Uronarti, Middle Kingdom page 24

14. Papyrus bearing the' Scmna Dispatches', Middle Kingdom lJiJge 24

15. Chart showing the military hierarchy in the New Kingdom pcn;« 27

16. Scene of five Nubian mercenaries from the tomb of Tjanuny at Thebes,

New Kingdom page 28

17. Syrian mercenary, depicted on a stele from /vmarna, New Kingdom page 30

18. Early Dynastic warriors on the Hunter's Palette page 32

19. Detail of the painting in the Hierakonpolis Painted Tomb, late Prcdynas!ic

Period page 32

20. The Scorpion Macchead from Hierakonpo!is, Protodynastic Period paRe "U 21. Scene of pharaoh smiting foreigners, at Esna, Gracco-Roman Period page 33

22. Wooden model of soldiers from the tomb of Mesehti at Asyut, Middle

Kingdom page 34

23. DilTerent types or baulcaxcx: Old Kingdom-New Kingdom paRe 35

24. Middle Kingdom battleaxe page 35

25. Different types of spear: Old Kingdom-New Kingdom pag« 36

26. Scene showing a craftsman checking the straightness of an arrow, from

Saqqara, New Kingdom [Jag I' 36

27. Different types of bow: selfbow and rccurved composite bow page 36

28. Scene of siege warfare from the tomb of Inti at Deshasheh, Old Kingdom

page 38

29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

5

List ofillustrations

4

Scene showing a mobile siege tower from the tomb of the general lntef at

Thebes, Middle Kingdom page 38

Horse-drawn chariot, New Kingdom page 40

Two Egyptian soldiers in a ch.uiot, New Kingdom page 40

Seti I fighting in a chariot, Karnak Temple, New Kingdom page 4 I

Papyrus Anastasi I, a text describing a visit to a chariot repair shop, New

Kingdom page 42

Rarnesses II wearing the blue 'war' crown, New Kingdom page 43

paRe 46

37. Route of Tuthmosis III towards the battle of Megiddo page 48

38. A cuneiform letter written by Tushraua to Amenophis Ill, New Kingdom page 5 I 39. Egyptian chariots at the battle of Qadcsh, from the temple of Ramesses II,

Abydos, New Kingdom l)(lge 52

40. Scene of an Asiatic fortress being stormed, from Karnak, New Kingdom page 53

41. Plan of the battle of Qadcvh flag I' 54

42. Egypto-Ilittite peace treaty, from Karnak, New Kingdom Iwge 55

43. Hittite 'marriage stele', from Abu Simbel, New Kingdom flag I' 56

44. 130al painted 011 a pottery vessel, late Prcdyuustic Period page 58

45. Naval battle depicted on the Gebel cl-Arak knife handle, late Predynastic

Period flage M) 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

51. 52.

Model of a boat, Middle Kinudoiu page 01 Scene of boatbuildcrs. lrom thc tomb ofTi at Saqqar.t, Old Kingdom page til A Sea Peoples' boat. vlcdinct l labu. "Jew Kingdom/luge 62

An Egyptian boat ill the baltic againslthe Sea Peoples, at Medinet Habu, New Kingdom I'(/ge (13 'Victory stele' of Piyc from Gebel Burkal. Lite Period puge ()4 Fragment of relief from Nineveh showing the storming of an Egyptian town, Late Period I'age ()() Map of Egypt showing the location of sites mentioned in the text page 68

Chronology

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Predynastic Period

c5DOD-::noo BC

Protodynastic Period

c.3300-3050 BC

Early Dynastic Period

3050-2613 BC

Old Kingdom

2613-21S1 BC

1.\

50DO-'+OOO 4000-35DO 35DO-3300

Badarian

Naqada I

Naqada II

3050-2S90 2S9D-26S6 26S6-2613

Dvnastv I

D)nast) II

Dynasty III

26L\-249S 2498-2345 23'+5-21 S I

Dynasty IV

Dynasty V

Dynasty VI

First Interme diate Period

2181-20 40 BC

Middle Kingdo m

2040-17 8213C

Second Interme diate 1782-15 70 BC Period

2181-20 40 2134-20 60

Dynasti es VlI-X Dynasty XI (Thcban )

2060-19 91 1991-17 82

Dynasty XI Dynasty XII

1782-16 50

Dynasti es XIII-XI V (Egyptia n) Dynasti es XV-XV I (Hykxos ) Dynasty XVII (Theban )

1663- I555 1663-15 70

New Kingdo m

Late Period

Dynasty XVIII I1./UI/OSC

Tuthmosis IIf Ifl /vkhcua tcn

I1.mcl/of Jhis

Tutankh anum Dynasty XIX II Dynasty XX Rilll/CSSC S I I I

R ([lIleSSCS

1070-71 313C 1070-94 5 945-712 828-71 2 724-713

Dynasty Dynasty Dynasty Dynasty

XXI XXII XXIII XXIV

713-332 BC 713-656 664-525 525-404 404-399 399-380 380-343

Gracco -Roman Period

1 Intro duct ion

1570- I070 Be 1570-12 93 1570- I 5~:

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The battle of Megiddo Egypt's main rival in the first half of the Eighteenth Dynasty was Mitanni, a kingdom sandwiched between the growing powers of Hatti and Assyria (figure 36). By the time of Tuthmosis !II Mitanni had established itself as the dominant influence on the city-states of Syria. During the reign of Tuthmosis Ill's stepmother Hatshepsut there had apparently been no Egyptian military campaigns in Western Asia, and the conquests of his grandfather, Tuthmosis I (who had placed a bound­ ary stele as far north as the bank of the Euphrates), were being rapidly whittled away. In about 1503 BC, less than a year after he came to the throne, Tuthrnosis III embarked on his first, and perhaps most significant, ex­ pedition in order to thwart a 'revolt' of city-states led by the prince of Qadesh and doubtless backed by Mitanni, He marched his army from the eastern Nile Delta, via Gaza and Yemma, to the plain of Esdraelon (figure 37), leaving his general Djehuty to lay siege to the town of Joppa (modern Jaffa). According to a legend preserved on the Rammeside Papyrus Harris 500 at the British Museum, Djehuty's men, like Ali Baba, were smuggled into Joppa inside baskets. Whatever the truth of this story, Djehuty himself was a historical character and his tomb at Thebes contains an inscription describing his role in the cam­ paign. When Tuthmosis III arrived at Yemma he was informed that the enemy were waiting for him on the far side of the Carmel ridge, using the city of Megiddo (the Biblical Armageddon) as their base. A council of war then took place between the king and his generals: this is probably more of a literary device than a record of a real event, provid­ ing the narrator of the Annals with an opportunity to demonstrate the king's bravery and tactical abilities. There appear to have been three possible strategies: to follow the most direct route across the ridge, emerging about 1.5 km (l mile) from Megiddo; to take the path north­

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general, however, the Middle Kingdom pharaohs pursued a relatively naive policy in the Levant, the ultimate consequence of which was to be infiltration by the 'rulers of foreign lands' and the ensuing humiliation of the Second Intermediate Period. The Eighteenth Dynasty rulers adopted a more mature approach to international relations. As early as the reign of Ahmose (ruled 1570­ 1546 BC) they were laying the foundations of their Asiatic empire by campaigning in southern Rctennu, but the crucial difference from their earlier forays into the Levant was the increasing use of diplomacy. The rapid construction of a framework of alliances and treaties took place alongside the adoption of Asiatic weaponry and methods of warfare.

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Imperial strategies and international diplomacy

Caspian Sea

Black Sea

400 KM

36. Map of Egypt, the Levant and Western Asia during the New Kingdom.

ing their names in Egyptian hieroglyphs and using the Egyptian title of haty-' (provincial governor).

Sesostris III was primarily concerned with the subjugation of Nubia,

but he seems to have fought one campaign in Retennu (the Egyptian

term for Syria-Palestine), culminating in the capture of the city of

Shechem. This incident is recorded in the stele from the tomb of a

military official of Sesostris III called Khusobek at Abydos. Khusobek

captured a prisoner in the battle at Shechem and was personally re­

warded by the king with 'a staff of electrum, a bow and a dagger

wrought with electrum, together with his [the prisoner's] weapons'.

There is also a roughly contemporary stele found at the village of Mit

Rahina(on the site of Memphis), which mentions booty from 'Asia'. In

--.

48

Egyptian Wm/are and Weapons

wards to the town or Djerty, emerging to the west of Megiddo; or to takc the more southerly route via the town of Taanach, about 8 krn (5 miles) south-east of Megiddo. The king chose the most dangerous approach -- the direct route --- which would take the army through a narrow pass, forcing them to march slowly one after thc other, relying solely on the clement of surprise. --.

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